LAKEPORT — The Sheriff”s Office of Quality Assurance Exploratory Committee met for the first time Thursday morning at the Lake County Courthouse.
The Lake County Board of Supervisors (BOS) formed the exploratory committee earlier this year to develop the criteria by which a citizens” advisory oversight committee for the Lake County Sheriff”s Office (LCSO) could be formed.
Sheriff Frank Rivero proposes to name that citizens” oversight committee the Office of Quality Assurance, which he said would serve as “a method or a conduit to get information to the public that”s not filtered through the sheriff”s staff or anyone else.”
Exploratory committee members Rivero, County Counsel Anita Grant, District 3 Supervisor Denise Rushing, Clearlake Oaks resident Jim Steele and Kelseyville resident Mike Linnell attended Thursday”s meeting. The sixth member, Lake County Planning Commissioner Bob Malley, was absent.
The five exploratory committee members exchanged ideas for more than one hour. The conversation focused primarily on creating a model by which the criteria for the future committee could be developed.
Other jurisdictions in the state and the country have different types of citizen oversight groups for local law enforcement agencies but none of those models can be directly supplanted into Lake County, according to Rivero. “We have to customize this thing,” he said.
One potential structure discussed would see the oversight committee, comprised of people outside of the LCSO, receive and consider complaints or feedback about the LCSO from other citizens.
The number of oversight committee members is still being considered, but a suggested total of seven (one from each Supervisorial district and two at-large) was discussed.
Exploratory committee members said the oversight committee should not investigate individual complaints but look for patterns in types of criticisms while ensuring some specific complaints are directed to proper channels, such as the LCSO”s current complaint process or the grand jury.
Legal problems could arise if the oversight committee were charged with reviewing individual complaints, in part because peace officers have privacy rights under state law, Grant said.
After identifying any patterns, the oversight committee could discuss the issues with the LCSO, ask the County Counsel”s Office for a legal opinion or conduct an inquiry, if appropriate, under the potential model.
The oversight committee could make recommendations to the LCSO and ask for progress reports, all while reporting back to the BOS, under the potential model.
The exploratory committee did not decide on a structure, opting to adjourn the meeting until later in July to allow members to absorb the ideas presented Thursday.
The exploratory committee will meet on July 21 at 9 a.m. to continue discussing the oversight committee model and could begin developing specific criteria.
Rivero said he hopes the exploratory committee could present a recommendation to the BOS in the next three months, but added he wants the committee to take all the time necessary to develop a sound proposal.
Contact Jeremy Walsh at jwalsh@record-bee.com or call him at 263-5636, ext. 37.
