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Wednesday, May 25, 2016 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
Candidates respond to latest DCSO discipline
By Craig Rullman
Correspondent
The turnover and formal
discipline of top officials
in the Deschutes County
Sheriff’s Office continues,
with the May 18 announce-
ment that Lt. Tim Leak has
been placed on paid adminis-
trative leave for “allegations
of violating sheriff’s office
policies.”
This follows a series of
recent incidents at the sher-
iff ’s office, including the
firing and arrest of former
Captain Scott Beard, who
was accused of stealing
$200,000 from an investi-
gative fund, and then using
the money to support gifts
and trips for a girlfriend, and
the subsequent resignation
of Captain Eric Utter, who
was being investigated for
conducting an affair with a
subordinate.
The Nugget spoke with
sheriff candidates Eric
Kozowski and incumbent
Shane Nelson regarding
the latest disciplinary move
involving leadership at the
sheriff’s office.
“It’s troubling to me that
we continue have failures in
supervision and leadership,”
Kozowski said. “And it’s one
of the reasons I’m running.
I’d hoped Shane would be
the guy to fix these problems,
but he seems to be continu-
ing (former Sheriff Larry)
Blanton’s legacy.”
In a public statement,
Sheriff Nelson wrote that
Leak was placed on adminis-
trative leave “after new infor-
mation came to the attention
of command staff in the last
week.”
...it is my job to take
care of business...
—Sheriff Shane Nelson
Kozowski said, “It was no
secret that there were prob-
lems with his (Leak’s) lead-
ership style. He was abra-
sive, and unsupportive of
subordinates.”
The candidate, who serves
as a DCSO deputy, said that
he had brought these man-
agement-style issues regard-
ing Leak to Sheriff Nelson
during a personal meeting in
February.
Kozowski told The Nugget
that “numerous employees
have been asking (the sher-
iff) ‘When are you going to
do something about Leak?’”
“It is concerning and
troubling that we continue
to have these problems and
they only get addressed
when they become a crisis
and he (Nelson) is forced to
address them,” Kozowski
said.
In a written statement to
The Nugget, Sheriff Nelson
wrote regarding the February
meeting with Kozowski: “As
part of my taking office, I am
holding meetings with all of
the employees, one-on-one,
for their input about the sher-
iff’s office and how we are
doing. Deputy Kozowski did
meet with me in February. He
only made general statements
with no specific informa-
tion that I could have acted
on.”
Nelson told The Nugget
that Leak’s placement on
administrative leave is “not
criminal in nature,” and is
unrelated to former Captain
Scott Beard’s recent request
to change his plea in the
criminal case.
It is unclear, however,
if the alleged violations are
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in some way related to the
Beard investigation. Leak
was formerly the DCSO
investigative lieutenant, and
served beneath fired investi-
gative Captain Scott Beard.
The Nugget asked Sheriff
Nelson if he felt the fallout
investigations surrounding
the Beard incident were near-
ing a conclusion, effectively
finished, or additional disci-
pline among the ranks could
be expected.
Sheriff Nelson said, “As
a servant of the people it is
my job to take care of busi-
ness when and if I discover
problems, and I hope the
citizens agree that my record
over the last 10 months
proves that I will take action
when its necessary, and
when I find out there is an
issue.”
Regarding public dis-
cussion of the Leak case,
the sheriff wrote, “I am
disappointed that Deputy
Kozowski was talking about
an investigation when he
does not know the facts. This
shows his lack of manage-
ment experience because
this is the second time he
has commented on an active
investigation. Two months
ago he made public state-
ments about an inmate
death which is the subject
of pending litigation in fed-
eral court and a Department
of Justice investigation. It is
improper to speak on active
investigations and pending
litigation.”
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