The Lake County Deputy Sheriff”s Association (DSA) is committed to serving the citizens of Lake County and the DSA”s membership.
The opinion piece in the Lake County Record-Bee that was placed online on May 23 and removed on May 24 appeared to attribute the writing as personal opinions of DSA President Gary Frace and Vice-President Joe Dutra.
The incidents within the piece were the officer safety concerns of our membership, not the sole-personal opinions of Frace and Dutra. The DSA board approved the piece (as re-printed below) and will continue to bring the concerns of its membership to the attention of the Sheriff”s Administration and the public as necessary.
Edward Bean
Second Vice President Lake County D.S.A. Board
Lake County DSA urges Sheriff to protect officer safety
Sheriff Rivero”s recent decisions to disregard department protocols and compromise officer safety put the lives of Lake County”s peace officers and citizens at risk.
As the representative of Lake County”s 65 deputies and sergeants, the Lake County Deputy Sheriffs” Association urges the Sheriff to take steps to protect officer safety and follow our agency”s protocols.
On April 18, an unidentified person called in a bomb threat to the Lake County courthouse.
The Sheriff failed to notify the Lakeport Police Department and on-duty sheriff”s patrol deputies of what was occurring.
As the evacuation was happening, Lakeport Police Department learned of the incident from officers who were patrolling the area.
The Sheriff also failed to have emergency medical personnel respond to the scene for potential injuries.
The Sheriff ignored countywide protocols for notifying local law enforcement agencies and disregarded the policies for mutual aid and the evacuation of the courthouse.
On May 14, the Sheriff ordered the Lake County Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team to deploy “Code 3″ to the Napa County line to stop a Hell”s Angels motorcycle club from entering the county. “Code 3″ responses ? lights and sirens ? are prohibited by the California Vehicle Code except for in-progress emergencies and life-threatening situations. The Sheriff”s order to deploy armed officers to prevent free citizens from entering the county could violate those citizens” rights and place the citizens, the officers and the county at personal and financial risk.
Finally, on May 19, an armed confrontation occurred between members of the Lake County Narcotic Task Force and Clearlake police officers because Sheriff Rivero deliberately ignored established state and county protocols intended to protect the safety of officers and citizens.
The Sheriff chose not to notify the Clearlake Police Department that NTF officers were conducting an undercover operation in the city limits; as a result, police officers responded to the location of the operation and held the officers at gunpoint for several minutes.
The Sheriff”s decision placed the lives of these officers in imminent danger of “friendly fire,” not to mention endangering surrounding neighbors and innocent bystanders had a shooting occurred.
The Sheriff”s public statement, “You can put protocol in front of action, but that”s just not my style,” is an attitude that will get officers killed.
We stand prepared to give our lives to protect the citizens of Lake County but we will not stand to lose our lives, our families and our livelihoods because our Sheriff chooses to violate the rights and protocols that protect us all.
