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Wednesday, August 10, 2016 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
LAW OFFICERS: Local
agencies not seeing
direct impacts
Continued from page 1
as well as the potential effect
on law enforcement recruit-
ing and retention.
Sheriff Nelson told The
Nugget, “First, let me say
that we are devastated by
the cowardly murders of our
family in Dallas and Baton
Rouge. But I am so happy
that that environment is not
the case in this community. I
am so humbled and honored
to serve the people here.”
Sheriff Nelson noted that
following the incidents in
Dallas and Baton Rouge local
deputies received a flood of
well-wishes, cookies, cards
and flowers, in support of
law enforcement. Nelson
said it was an appreciated
reminder of the relationship
law enforcement enjoys with
the local community.
“It’s my job to make sure
it stays that way,” he said.
Nelson said that although
the killings elsewhere were
tragic and shocking, the
Deschutes County Sheriff’s
Office isn’t changing its
patrol tactics or deployment
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strategies based specifically
on those incidents.
“There are just so many
situations,” Nelson said,
referring to the unpredict-
able nature of law enforce-
ment. “We always try to train
and prepare for them, and we
always have a heightened
sense of awareness. If new
threats come in we brief on
them, share the info, and go
to work.
“We have to have the
training and experience to
handle anything that comes
our way,” Nelson said. “We
are in the customer-service
business, and we have to be
able to serve the citizens of
our community.”
Nelson noted that, in his
opinion, popular media and
politicians can stoke the
flames of controversy.
“In the case of a deadly
use-of-force incident, it is
incumbent on law enforce-
ment to be as thorough as
possible, and that doesn’t
come in a day,” he said. “And
it doesn’t help when the
office of the president leans
toward conclusions before
the investigations are even
concluded.”
Sheriff Nelson said that
while he harbors some long-
term “fears about the future
of recruiting and retention
because of the national cli-
mate,” he feels that the gen-
eral environment in Central
Oregon remains supportive of
law enforcement, and there-
fore law enforcement remains
an attractive career option.
Nelson told The Nugget that
he does not anticipate any
early retirements from his
department solely as a result
of the recent violence.
The sheriff told The
Nugget that he is mindful
of the “erosion of respect”
experienced by many of those
behind the badge.
“A stop by law enforce-
ment is not the time to have
a discussion about the proce-
dures deputies are using, or
the laws they are enforcing,”
he said, noting that “things
rarely go poorly when people
do as they are instructed.”
The sheriff also said that
citizens with complaints can
always request a supervi-
sor, make use of the com-
plaint process, or have their
legal counsel address an
issue, if they feel they have
been treated unfairly or
improperly.
Black Butte Ranch Police
Chief Denney Kelley, who
came to Black Butte Ranch
after 30 years of experience
with the Portland Police
Bureau, also pointed to the
media as a problem in high-
profile incidents involving
police officers. “The fertil-
izer for a lot of this has been
the media,” he said. “And
theater by some special-
interest groups, and (with
the flood of media attention)
they gain traction in their
message.”
Kelley said that in his
experience the swarm of
media attention on specific
high-profile incidents can
contribute to the problem
of understanding complex
situations, and believes it
encourages many to arrive
at conclusions “without facts
at hand.” Kelley encouraged
citizens to become more
actively engaged in study-
ing issues, and reading the
reports, such as the FBI’s
report on the Officer Darren
Wilson shooting in Ferguson,
Missouri, which is available
on the Internet.
Chief Kelley told The
Nugget he is concerned
about the effects of such inci-
dents on law enforcement
recruiting.
“We strive to get the right
people; these people are
smart enough to know other
jobs don’t come with the
same problems. The current
environment has a dampen-
ing effect.”
Kelley said the problem
can easily snowball, and that
if police academies have a
difficult time filling seats due
to a lack of applicants, the
specter of lowering standards
for police recruits can become
a serious issue. He pointed to
several agencies around the
country who are now offer-
ing large signing bonuses
to police recruits merely to
entice applicants into a career
in law enforcement.
The Nugget asked Kelley
if he agreed with Dallas
Police Chief David Brown,
who told mourners at a
memorial service that he
believed police departments
and officers are being asked
to do too much. Kelley said
that he agreed, and pointed
specifically to “the explosion
of mentally ill,” and the utter
lack of resources for families
and law enforcement to deal
with the issues.
Kelley linked the dramatic
rise in mental illness to drug
and alcohol abuse, and said
frankly that “cops don’t have
the tools, society doesn’t
have the tools, and families
don’t have the tools to deal
with it.”
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