La Pine-DCSO community action team reports results from eight-month pilot
LA PINE, Ore. (KTVZ) -- The Deschutes County Sheriff's Office and the City of La Pine released performance data Thursday detailing the first eight months of the La Pine-DCSO Community Action Team contract. The initiative, which ran from Jan. 1 through Aug. 31, focused on wildfire prevention, traffic enforcement, neighborhood safety and public event management.
KTVZ's Spencer Sacks is in La Pine and will have a full report tonight for KTVZ News at 6.
Local leaders established the partnership to address specific safety priorities, particularly following destructive statewide fire seasons in recent years. City officials and sheriff's deputies reported that La Pine completed the 2026 fire season without any wildfires threatening local residents, attributing the outcome to regular public land monitoring and targeted prevention checks.
Traffic enforcement formed a major part of the team's work, resulting in 482 speed-enforcement traffic stops within La Pine. Deputies conducted 231 stops on Highway 97, which runs directly through town and 251 stops on city streets. The team also logged 455 hours providing traffic management, pedestrian safety and event logistics for local gatherings including the Rhubarb Festival, Frontier Days, the High Lakes Car Show and the La Pine Rodeo.
The team is staffed by Sgt. Kyle Kalmbach and Deputy Jonathan Ebner, both of whom are longtime La Pine residents. Deschutes County Sheriff Ty Rupert said the contract was designed specifically around local community feedback.
“We built this contract around the specific needs and public safety concerns that La Pine faces,” Rupert said. “Every number in this report represents the time deputies spent on the community's biggest priorities, whether that is checking public lands for fire risk, supporting businesses, or being present on streets and in neighborhoods.”
Deputies spent an estimated 373 hours conducting 234 public land and fire safety checks across the area. La Pine Mayor Jeannine Earls noted that recent fire seasons across Oregon prompted the city to take a proactive approach to wildfire prevention.
“After seeing how destructive recent fire seasons have been statewide, we knew we needed a more focused approach to prevention,” Earls said. “By working closely with DCSO and prioritizing boots-on-the-ground checks, we put ourselves in a stronger position this year. I believe that approach played a key role in helping our community avoid another major wildfire threat in 2026.”
The team's activities also included 154 neighborhood patrols totaling 101 hours and 67 business safety advisements totaling 58 hours. Deputies provided school bus marshaling during pickup and drop-off times, increased visibility around school grounds, developed a new emergency response plan for local schools and established a streamlined evacuation process for residents and animals in South Deschutes County.
Managing transient camps on nearby public lands was another key focus of the team's mandate. Earls described the issue as one of the community's most complex challenges.
“This is one of the most complex issues we face as a community,” Earls said. “Many of those residing in these camps are transient, but we also have long-term residents who need to be valued, feel safe and be healthy. The increased engagement from deputies has helped create stronger relationships, better communication and improved conditions that have led to cleaner, safer spaces and more accountability.”
La Pine City Manager Geoff Wullschlager stated that the joint effort has required flexible collaboration across local jurisdictions.
“We are inspired by our work with the Sheriff's Office as we collectively address these issues in ways that are as unconventional as the problems themselves,” Wullschlager said. “Regardless of jurisdictional ownership, DCSO and the La Pine have pivoted in a collaborative effort to maintain public health and safety standards in south Deschutes County.”
