Tiffany Revelle — Record-Bee staff
CLEARLAKE — Clearlake Community Patrol came to an end last week, and in its place comes the Volunteers In Policing (VIP) program.
The change comes with Interim Clearlake Police Chief Larry Todd”s vision for expanded service to the community, but also some hard feelings on the part of some former volunteers.
Former head of the community patrol, Ray Magill, said the organization has partnered with the Clearlake Police Department for upward of 10 years, and performed an array of duties for the police, including directing traffic during various emergencies, including murders and car accidents, as well as during parades and special events.
But the sore spot, he said was around the nighttime patrol service the volunteers provided to Yuba College and Clearlake Community School. Under the new VIP program, the volunteers would no longer be able to take home their marked cars.
The change, said Magill, would mean a slower response time for volunteers because of travel time to and from the CPD. He said he was also told it would mean no more patrol at the two schools. Magill said that left him less than the agreed-upon 30 days” notice to cancel the association”s agreement with the Yuba College for patrol.
Interim Police Chief Todd said the Clearlake Community Patrol, an independent nonprofit organization loosely affiliated with the department, was notified five months ago of the change and that its volunteers were invited to undergo training and join the VIP program.
The program, said Todd, would expand on the services the nonprofit provided to include code enforcement work, clerical duties and fingerprinting, among other duties.
Among other reasons, Todd said the move to the VIP program would enable the CPD to perform background checks on volunteers, something he said is important for anyone representing the department, especially concerning liability. He said he”s seen the VIP program work before in his police career, and that in his experience, volunteers are usually screened through the police department.
Todd said about 10 of the patrol”s previous approximate 20 volunteers had signed up for the VIP program.
The volunteer”s previous headquarters, he said, is slated to be torn down in about a month, mostly because it is already falling apart.
The Clearlake Community Patrol held a farewell dinner Saturday night.
Contact Tiffany Revelle at trevelle@record-bee.com.
