LAKE COUNTY ? Sheriff Rod Mitchell questioned the motives, timing and truthfulness of discrimination allegations against the Lake County Sheriff”s Office in a video response posted Thursday.
Mitchell also posted a timeline detailing the officers” actions leading up to the allegations on the sheriff”s department Web site.
A Dan Noyes KGO-TV ABC report aired Nov. 12 with claims of discrimination and racial profiling from Deputy Francisco Rivero, former officer Brian Lande and former Sgt. Kip Ringen of LCSO.
“We remain committed to investigating any and all allegations made against members of this department,” Mitchell said. “But those that have been made to the media already by the four men that appeared in that broadcast ? we will be challenging them to provide evidence to support their claims and we will be asking many questions.”
Mitchell said some of the broadcast comments were “vicious attacks made for political gain.”
Rivero plans to run against Mitchell for sheriff next year.
“When I filmed that with Channel 7 news, that was in May of this year,” Rivero said. “I had no intent of running at that point.”
Rivero said he”s not making allegations but that he”s allowing the investigation to go forward. He thinks the sheriff should be investigating the claims, not the whistleblowers, Rivero said.
“This is clearly a paid political advertisement that”s being paid for by the county and broadcast on the county Web site,” Rivero said.
Rivero said people can visit his Web site to see a response on the sheriff”s timeline and video at sheriffrivero.com
The timeline details Rivero”s attempt at earning sergeant ranking, complaints Lande filed and the way Ringen handled complaints as a sergeant.
The timeline ends March 27 with, “Rivero, Lande and Ringen submit letters of complaint, simultaneously and in concert, to the County Administrative Officer.”
“In the coming weeks we will continue to release information and evidence to disprove any false claims that have been made against any member of this department,” Mitchell said.
People can view the sheriff”s response and timeline by going to http://lakesheriff.com and clicking on “Response to Allegations” in the middle of the page.
Contact Katy Sweeny at ksweeny@record-bee.com or call her directly at 263-5636, ext. 37.
