The Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO) celebrated a major milestone as a new class of Search and Rescue volunteers marked the start of a critical role within our local public safety system.

Every Friday at Inverness Jail, Multnomah Education Service District Transition Specialist Nathanyel Israel sits down with a small group of adults in custody who have chosen to break unhealthy patterns in their lives.  

They have voluntarily enrolled in his ManUP course — a program whose name stands for Men Advancing Nobility, Unity, and Purpose.  

Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office Sergeant John Pemberton is at the helm of Oregon’s only dedicated Gun Dispossession Unit (GDU), a team responsible for serving and enforcing firearm prohibition orders, many tied to Extreme Risk Protection Orders and domestic violence cases. 

Pemberton oversees two deputies in the GDU, which has become a statewide and national model for how law enforcement can help ensure that individuals subject to firearm prohibition orders safely relinquish their weapons.  

For Multnomah County Corrections Deputy Jason Blaesing, a decade of service can be distilled into one guiding principle: “I treat people how I want to be treated.”  

It sounds simple, but that mindset helps keep Deputy Blaesing, his colleagues, and other adults in custody safe. By leading with empathy, Deputy Blaesing, has spent near 10 years building trust and maintaining professionalism with people from every walk of life. 

Multnomah County Sheriff’s Deputy Joe Kaiser has spent more than three decades helping people. It’s what he dreamed of as a child. 

“I’ve wanted to be a cop since I was five, when my uncle got pulled over on his motorcycle. I was riding with him, and I didn’t have a helmet on,” Deputy Kaiser said. “I remember my uncle being upset about the ticket and I thought, ‘How cool is that police officer!’” 

Out of roughly 6,000 law enforcement officers statewide, fewer than 200 hold Drug Recognition Expert (DRE) certification.  

Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO) Patrol Sergeant Chad Stevens holds an even rarer distinction as one of only a few DRE instructors in Oregon. 

DREs help identify impairment from substances such as inhalants and hallucinogens supporting safer roads and stronger Driving Under the Influence of Intoxicants (DUII) investigations. Their work is vital, as impaired drivers are a leading cause of death for law enforcement officers.