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Wednesday, August 21, 2019 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
O P Arÿ
I N Stÿoll
I O
Join The 4th Friday
N
Considering public safety
options for Sisters
By Cory Misley
City Manager, City of Sisters
Visit Downtown Sisters for the
S ISTERS G ALLERY
& F RAME S HOP
Fourth Friday Artwalk
August 23, from 4 to 7 p.m.
Ken Scott9s
Gather
your Gallery
family and friends to visit the galleries for
Imagination
new and unique art, discussions with artists, and light
refreshments. See page 5 for information and map.
Letters to the Editor…
The Nugget welcomes contributions from its readers, which must include the writer9s name, address and phone number. Let-
ters to the Editor is an open forum for the community and contains unsolicited opinions not necessarily shared by the Editor.
The Nugget reserves the right to edit, omit, respond or ask for a response to letters submitted to the Editor. Letters should be
no longer than 300 words. Unpublished items are not acknowledged or returned. The deadline for all letters is noon Monday.
To the Editor:
Re: <Don9t give a pass to false narratives,=
The Nugget editorial by Jim Cornelius, August
14, page 2.
That9s right, Jim, facts matter. It is not at all
clear from the facts in the shooting of Michael
Brown by Officer Wilson in Ferguson five
years ago, whether or not a murder occurred.
Legally, two elements must be present to
constitute a murder. First there must be an
actus reus 4 a physical act that harms another
person 4 and a mens rea 4 a guilty mind or
criminal intent to commit a crime. The facts in
this instance confirm there was a physical act
that harmed someone.
It is not as clear as to whether or not Officer
Wilson had criminal intent where he shot
unarmed black man Michael Brown in the
head. One might infer that from the circum-
stances of the shooting, but it is not known if
Officer Wilson had a guilty mind at the time
of the incident.
So, politicians Harris and Warren don9t
know if a murder occurred. They are just spec-
ulating as are you when you suggest a mur-
der did not occur. Speculation is something in
which politicians and newsmen ought not to
engage.
The findings of the investigation into the
killing were based upon the fact the investi-
gators were unwilling to speculate as to the
intent of Officer Wilson.
Roger Detweiler
s
s
s
To the Editor:
My closest and dearest friend often sends
me cut-outs of articles from The Nugget. I9m a
See LETTERS on page 31
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The Nugget Newspaper, LLC
Website: www.nuggetnews.com
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Although Sisters is a safe
community, there is always
room for improvement. In
the 2016 survey conducted
by the Deschutes County
District Attorney9s Office,
<Community Attitudes
About Public Safety in
Deschutes County,= Sisters
4 across the board 4
reported the lowest level of
concerns on public safety
topics compared to other
communities. However, the
focus of the City Council and
staff is continuous improve-
ment of the quality of life
here in Sisters, especially
as we grow and change.
We should acknowledge
that, overall, we live in a
safe place. Since 1998 we
have had Deschutes County
Sheriff9s Office (DCSO) as
our contractual law enforce-
ment partner, with backup
help from the Oregon State
Police and Black Butte
Ranch Police, and our atten-
tive community to thank
for that safety. We are also
aware that some current
public-safety issues need
attention, and actions are
being taken to lessen those
issues.
Our actions are being
determined through a sensi-
ble, evidence-based policy-
making process.
As many of you remem-
ber, in 1998, the population
sign read 911. Since then,
the city has tripled in size to
2,725. It goes without say-
ing, there has been a lot of
growth and change in Sisters
and Deschutes County. The
contract terms between the
City and the DCSO have not
changed much since 1998.
The contracted cost has dou-
bled with inflation, while
the number of weekly patrol
hours within the city (120)
remains the same. The City
is doing significant due dili-
gence regarding future law
enforcement services, well
ahead of the current contract
ending June 30, 2020.
In February 2019, the
City Council established its
goals for this current fis-
cal year, and a top priority
was public safety, specifi-
cally evaluating the City9s
law enforcement options.
We take this seriously. Law
enforcement (and the public
safety it fosters) is essential
to our community and a sig-
nificant component of our
budget 4 this fiscal year the
City is spending $611,849
(over half of the property tax
revenue within the city) on
service from the DCSO.
There are effectively
two options: Contract with
a law enforcement agency
or reinstate our own police
department. The former
requires looking at possible
contractual partners and
negotiating acceptable terms
in that contract. The latter
requires a comprehensive
analysis of the associated
expenses and infrastructure
and timing (for a primer,
among his opinions, read
Craig Rullman9s column
<Community Policing=
published in The Nugget on
August 28, 2018) and poten-
tial long-term, sustainable
funding options.
Community policing
is predicated on relation-
ships. Sisters is still a small
city, somewhat like a small
neighborhood in a larger
city. We should know the
individuals that serve us in
a law enforcement capac-
ity on a daily basis 4 that
means full-time staff who
work only here. The School
Resource Deputy at Sisters
High School, who builds
relationships with School
District employees, stu-
dents, and parents can lever-
age that to bolster public
safety throughout the entire
community. It would make
a significant impact if that
approach were applied to
the City9s contracted law
enforcement service.
In that 2016 survey,
Sisters ranked traffic safety
as their top threat (illegal
drugs second) while every
other community had that
flipped. We know traffic is
an issue and we are work-
ing on that through a mul-
tifaceted approach 4 there
is no silver bullet. We will
continue to explore our law
enforcement options over
the next handful of months.
To learn more about your
perspective of public safety
in our community, we will
distribute a public safety
survey to utility accounts
within the city. If you live
outside the city, you can
share your opinion by con-
tacting me at cmisley@
ci.sisters.or.us. Your input is
very valuable to us.
We are being thoughtful
about considering public-
safety options in the com-
munity9s best interest as we
look to the future of law
enforcement in the city.
Opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the writer and
are not necessarily shared by the Editor or The Nugget Newspaper.