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Sheriff Russel Burger

OREGON SHERIFF Magazine News

Sheriff Russel Burger was elected to replace retiring Lane County Sheriff Jan Clements. Sheriff Burger has a well rounded law enforcement career that comes in a package of education and job experience.

He began his law enforcement career with the San Bernardino County Sheriff Office where he spent 6 years. He then joined the Oregon State Police where he worked his way up through the ranks of trooper, sergeant, lieutenant and area commander being responsible for all of Lane County and parts of Linn, Douglas and Klamath Counties. His area of responsibility prior to his election as Lane County Sheriff was as Chief Deputy for that agency.

Sheriff Burger has a BA in Business Administration from Oregon State University, and has completed coursework towards a Masters degree in Public Administration at California State University, San Bernardino, as well as Administration of Justice at San Bernardino Valley College.

Russel has a full plate of issues that he is dealing with in his new job. The Lane County Jail is under staffed requiring that a number of criminal beds are unfilled. "We need to staff the jail to hold criminals accountable for their criminal behavior," he said "We need those beds to address property crimes including burglary and methamphetamine manufacture and use."

Sheriff Burger's immediate goal is to support his deputies in making customer service a priority and helping members of his organization look, act and be professional at all times.

Sheriff Burger, 42, and his wife Lynn have two school age sons.

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OREGON SHERIFF Magazine News

Winter, 2007 -- Sheriff's search and rescue crews searched the wilderness near Cougar Reservoir for lost hiker Daming Xu in November but were unable to find him. The search and rescue effort was one of the largest in scope and scale ever launched by the Lane County Sheriff's Office. At least 19 agencies assisted in the search.

About 50 rescuers combed drainages and other areas south and southwest of Olallie Mountain, where Xu, a 63-year-old mathematics professor at the University of Oregon, disappeared when he went on a solo day hike. During the search period, the area received snow and experienced high winds, making conditions hazardous for crews and for Xu. The hiker was believed to have begun his trek without food, water, a warm jacket or a cell phone.

Crews continued ground and air searches for days, eventually moving from an active to a passive search. John Miller, Lane County Search & Rescue coordinator, said the decision to end actively searching for Xu was made in consultation with his family. Volunteer search and rescue members from more than a dozen counties logged 3,200 hours in the search.

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Lane County

Sheriff Russel Burger