CLEARLAKE — Responses to the Grand Jury were authorized Thursday by the Clearlake City Council. A total of 27 responses were prepared including eight recommendations made in relation to the Clearlake Police Department.
Clearlake Police Chief Allan McClain did not agree with six of the eight recommendations offered by the Grand Jury maintaining that the department already performs the tasks recommended.
The Grand Jury recommends that the CPD comply with subpoenas issued by Lake County Superior Court. McClain said to infer that the CPD fails to comply with court order is erroneous. He said officers routinely comply with subpoenas issued by the court. He said it appears that one officer was subpoenaed and failed to appear; however, that does not make it an organizational issue. He said the officer in question no longer works for the CPD.
McClain states in his responses to infer that the CPD did not cooperate with the Grand Jury is false. He said members of the panel sat in his office and reviewed the entire police report on this incident and he answered all their questions. He also disagreed with the Grand Jury”s recommendation that the CPD should be more aware of the physical limitations of an aging population.
“We work very closely with the seniors we serve and have approximately 50 senior volunteers,” McClain states in his response. “The person in question in this complaint was arrested for interfering with officers who were attempting to arrest her son on a domestic violence issue and resisted arrest. Both individuals in this case entered guilty pleas.”
Another recommendation suggests the CPD should become more cognizant of effective communication especially in dealing with the elderly population. McClain states that, overall the department does a good job communicating with the people its serves. He said however, in this particular case a young offer responded and should have done a better job explaining what he had and what was going to happen next.
McClain also disagreed with the Grand Jury”s recommendation that increased community policing utilizing in-house training be initiated. He said the department does utilize in-house training resources provided by POST and sergeants provide daily training during briefs. “It is extremely difficult to initiate new programs or to become more proactive within the community when we have lost 33 percent of our sworn staff,” he states.
The Grand Jury recommends that CPD leadership develop more proactive responsibility for the morale of its officers and clerical staff. “We actively work to provide a work environment that allows our employees to grow and achieve their career goals. Unfortunately, it is hard to keep morale up when in the last three years we have laid off 33 percent of sworn staff, my secretary and two code enforcement officers,” McClain states, adding that staff have been told that there is no money for raises, asked to give up benefits and watched as the department budget has been cut every year.
“While all this is happening our calls for service continue to go up and we handle as many calls for service in Clearlake as the rest of the county combined,” McClain stated. “The members of the CPD have done an outstanding job with the resources they have been given. Is their morale low? Absolutely! But I could not be prouder of each and every one of them for what they have accomplished and I would not trade them for any other department in the world.”
McClain does agree that a CPD Web page to recognize the heroic efforts of law enforcement staff be developed. He also agrees that a Web page should be created to acknowledge individual officers” achievement, advertise the mission statement and promote community relations.
“We have worked with the city in an attempt to develop a Web page to promote the positive aspects Clearlake has to offer, but in our current fiscal crisis the cost of developing this Web site is cost prohibitive,” McClain states in his response.
Contact South County reporter Denise Rockenstein at drockenstein@clearlakeobserver.com or call her directly at 994-6444, ext. 11.
