This month I would like to highlight the members of the Black Butte Police Department.

We had two retirements in January. Lori, who was our long-time Administrative Manager, retired after almost a decade of service to BBRPD. Lori was a cornerstone of this agency and she was the person everyone went to (Officers, board members, owners, and guests) when there was a question about, well, virtually anything. Lori had the answer. Lori loved this community and showed up every day with a smile and positive energy and propelled our mission forward. Of course, Lola was (is) the department mascot, and greeted every person who came through the doors with cautious optimism, standing steady for a treat or tug of war with the other office K-9’s.

Sergeant Steve Vuylsteke also retired from BBRPD in January after 7 years. Steve started his law enforcement career in 1987 as an officer in Cornelius, Oregon. He transferred to Hillsboro Police Department where he had many different specialties. Steve was a SWAT team member for 19 years, serving as a police sniper, he spent 9 years as a K9 handler while serving on SWAT, and he also supervised the traffic team which was responsible for enforcing traffic laws while riding a motorcycle. Steve was promoted to Lieutenant and retired with 28 years of service to Hillsboro PD. Steve will enjoy triathlons and extreme racing events in his retirement years. 

Sergeant Rob Schulz is a patrol Sergeant at BBRPD. Rob has been at BBRPD for 11 years. Before coming to BBRPD Rob was a Lieutenant at the Cannon Beach Police Department for 12 years. While at Cannon Beach, Rob was an EMT-Intermediate and worked as a volunteer firefighter. Rob oversees all training and patrol operations at BBRPD. He is heavily invested in the community and serves as a member of the Kiwanis Club in Sisters. During the holiday season, he is active throughout the community ensuring food and gifts are delivered to families in need. Rob is what community policing should look like throughout Oregon. 

Officer Joe Schneider retired from Bend Police Department and came to work for BBRPD. While are Bend, Joe developed an expertise in dealing with mental health calls for service. Responding to these types of calls for service requires a special toolbox for a police officer, including compassion, empathy, patience, and doing extra “stuff” which may not be covered in the job description of a Police Officer. Joe has all these qualities and shares them with a member of the BBR community. He continues to stay involved with crisis intervention teams throughout Central Oregon Officer Craig Cunningham retired from the Marion County Sheriff’s Office. While at MCSO Craig served as a patrol deputy and was promoted to Sergeant. As a Sergeant Craig supervised the MCSO Traffic Enforcement Unit. After running a traffic control team Craig supervised the MCSO detective team. Craig was a very busy detective in his role as the detective supervisor. He has experience investigating crimes from homicide scenes to crimes involving children. He is a wealth of knowledge for the BBR community. Craig currently runs our Citizens Police Academy.

Officer Kelvin Lettenmaier has been at Black Bute Ranch PD for the longest out of everyone, almost 20 years. Kelvin started at BBR, before becoming a Police Officer, as a Golf Pro. He spent a couple of years refining his golf game and teaching others at BBR how to enjoy this sport. Kelvin was hired as a BBR Police Officer and has been here ever since. Kelvin is a certified firearms instructor and teaches handgun and rifle courses throughout Central Oregon. Kelvin has a continuous smile and friendly disposition which makes him an incredible asset to our community. 
 

Officer Todd Rich came to us from Rhode Island. Todd retired from Scituate, Rhode Island PD as a Deputy Chief. Todd has an amazing amount of administrative and leadership experience which helps BBRPD in many ways. Todd is out in the BBR community helping citizens, making their life easier, and providing superior customer service above and beyond the job description. From giving rides to people who need gas in Sisters to children sledding on the ranch and getting stuck, Todd will be there.

 Jessica Rich is our new Administrative Manager. The administrative manager is the most important person in the agency, regarding the functional operations inside the agency. Jessica is responsible for all things other than patrol operations. This means payroll, accounts receivable, accounts payable, human resources, insurance, PERS, 911/Dispatch interaction, and community outreach events, just to name a few. The list of her duties could fill this entire paper and sheis critical to this agency. Jessica was a police and fire dispatcher in Rhode Island and she came to us from ODOT, where she was working as a regional dispatcher. Jessica and Todd are huge hockey fans and travel throughout Oregon, Washington and Idaho attending and coaching youth hockey teams.

BBRPD maintains high annual training standards to keep sharp for any potential calls for service. We are passionate about protecting the BBR community in a unique, rare, and truly community-oriented manner. Sharing our background and first names is an important part of that process. Please flag us down and say hi, we want to meet the community every chance we get.

V/R                                                         
Jason Van Meter, Chief of Police