How to resolve AdBlock issue? Lakeport City Council introduced to new crime scene reconstruction equipment
LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Lakeport City Council last week got to see a preview of state-of-the-art technology that a partnership of local law enforcement agencies is bringing to the city and the county.
Lakeport Police Officer Michael Sobieraj and Officer Angie Bell gave the presentation to the council at its meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 2.
In April, the Board of Supervisors approved District Attorney Don Anderson's request to purchase a three-dimensional Faro crime scene scanner at a cost of $66,000.
Anderson said the equipment would give his department – as well as cooperating local agencies – the ability to create precise 3D video reenactments of crime scenes.
He said those visually accurate recreations of the crimes would show the scenes as they appear to victims, witnesses and defendants.
The new scanning equipment is available not just to the District Attorney's Office but also to the Clearlake Police Department, Lakeport Police Department and the Lake County Sheriff's Office, Sobieraj told the council last week.
Lakeport Police Chief Brad Rasmussen also explained during the meeting that his department and the Clearlake Police Department contributed $15,000 toward the purchase from funds they had received from the Board of State and Community Corrections for felony enforcement.
Each of the involved agencies is having selected officers trained in using the equipment. For Lakeport Police, the trainees are Sobieraj and Bell, who took two days of training on the program. The District Attorney's Office also has dedicated one of its investigators to working with the scanner.
In addition to recreating crime scenes, Sobieraj said the equipment also will be used to investigate major accidents and other important incidents.
He showed a detailed nighttime scan of Park Street, outside of City Hall, taken with the equipment. He said it scans 365 degrees around, 180 degrees up and 80 degrees down. It then takes the photos and integrates them.
Sobieraj and Bell also showed scans of a City Hall conference room and the council chambers, complete with items – including a mannequin – placed around the rooms to make them look like crime scenes. He then showed how each piece of evidence could be documented in the program.
“There's infinite possibilities with this system,” said Sobieraj.
The equipment also has construction-related uses; it can scan buildings to track where pipes, utilities and other fixtures are located, he said.
“We're very lucky to be able to have this technology,” Sobieraj said.
Sobieraj added, “It's going to be a great tool of us to use, and we're excited about it.”
Anderson, who attended the meeting, said the program also allows the addition of animated figures in order to fully recreate scenes for juries.
He said one agency that uses the program reenacted a pursuit, with the resulting reconstruction looking like the incident was being viewed by a helicopter. Similarly, aerial views can be added to crime scenes.
While the learning process on the equipment is still under way for local law enforcement, Anderson said the scanner already is being put to work in a case involving the attempted murder of a police officer in Clearlake.
Mayor Kenny Parlet asked if they were seeing the last of chalk lines on carpet at crime scenes.
Sobieraj confirmed that the new scanning equipment was making chalk lines obsolete.
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Applicants sought for Clearlake Planning Commission vacancy
CLEARLAKE, Calif. – The Clearlake City Council is seeking applications from city residents interested in serving on the Clearlake Planning Commission.
There is one vacant seat on the commission for a term ending on March 11, 2015.
The seat became available with the resignation of Commissioner Al Bernal.
Planning commissioners hear and act upon land use matters and is advisory to the Clearlake City Council on zoning regulations, the general plan, and other land use issues.
Commissioners serve at the will of the Clearlake City Council, and are designated filers under the Fair Political Practices Commission and must file periodic statements of economic interest disclosing financial interests within the jurisdiction of the city.
Applications are available at Clearlake City Hall, 14050 Olympic Drive, or via email to City Clerk Melissa Swanson at
The deadline for applications is Sept. 30.
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Clearlake City Council, Konocti Unified approve agreement for school resource officer
CLEARLAKE, Calif. – The Clearlake City Council last Thursday approved a memorandum of understanding with Konocti Unified School District for a school resource officer.
The Konocti Unified Board of Trustees approved the MOU on Sept. 3.
Clearlake Police Officer Bobi Jo Thompson, who was selected in February of this year as the department's “Officer of the Year,” will serve as the school resource officer for the district.
Consideration of the agreement was at the request of Konocti Unified, which sought to dedicate an officer to support and promote safety on various district campuses.
Konocti Unified will pay the costs of the officer's salary, benefits and training, up to $120,000 per year.
“This amount will be more than sufficient to cover those costs,” Clearlake Police Chief Craig Clausen stated. “It is our intention to hire an additional officer with this new added revenue from KUSD.”
According to Clausen, the school resource officer will remain an employee of the Clearlake Police Department and will report to the district superintendent.
During school holidays and vacations, the school resource officer will resume duties for the police department, Clausen said.
The SRO is to work regularly from 7:45 a.m. to 3:45 p.m. Monday through Friday as well as be available for other school events such as football games and school dances, as needed.
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Several boat ramps in county parks to close; city boat ramps remain open
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Due to historically low water levels caused by the ongoing drought in California, three boat ramps on Clear Lake that are located at County parks are being closed.
Lake County Public Services Director Caroline Chavez said the following ramps are closing:
– Keeling Park in Nice;
– Lucerne Harbor in Lucerne; and
– Lakeside Park in Kelseyville;
“We are taking steps to close these ramps due to the hazardous conditions to boaters and their vessels,” Chavez said.
Clear Lake is currently below zero on the Rumsey gauge and water levels continue to drop.
The Clearlake Oaks boat ramp is still open, and could be so for approximately another month before low water levels cause its closure, according to Chavez.
Lakeport City Manager Margaret Silveira reported that the Third Street and Fifth Street boat ramps in Lakeport are fine, and there are no launching restrictions.
The First Street boat ramp should be used for small vessels only, such as kayaks or jet skis, officials said.
Clearlake City Manager Joan Phillipe said several boat ramps have been closed in Redbud Park in Clearlake, but there is a still one ramp open.
Signage has been placed in Redbud Park warning boaters of the low water level.
City officials in both cities continue to monitor their boat ramps for safety.
The Clear Lake State Park in Kelseyville closed its boat ramp earlier in August.
Information about private boat ramps can be obtained from their owners.
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Supervisors approve $184 million budget
LAKEPORT, Calif. – After seven and a half hours of budget hearings on Wednesday, the Board of Supervisors unanimously approved the county's final recommended 2014-15 budget.
The new budget's appropriations total approximately $184,767,583. That final number was adjusted by about $5 million since County Administrative Officer Matt Perry held a budget workshop with the board Aug. 12.
This year's budget total is down from $188 million last year, according to Perry.
“A lot of special projects account for the decrease in total appropriations,” Perry told the supervisors.
The 2014-15 budget also includes 965 full-time equivalent positions, up from 937 last year, Perry said. He attributed the increase to new positions added in the Probation and Social Services departments.
In addition to adopting the new budget, the board unanimously approved a resolution establishing position allocations for fiscal year 2014-15 to conform to the adopted budget and voted to continue the county's general hiring freeze, although Perry has the authority to waive that freeze as appropriate.
Perry said he prepared the budget keeping in mind board priorities, including Code Enforcement – where two new positions are to be added over the next two years with a one-time allocation. Those positions will help deal with enforcement issues that include illegal marijuana grows.
Other priorities include the jail expansion, water quality programs, senior centers and youth-related activities – such as the proposed Kelseyville skate and BMX park – capital projects, the south county Behavioral Health expansion and Lampson Field, as well as upgrades to water systems and roads, sidewalks and bridges.
Perry said another area of emphasis is staff development – and a resulting succession plan for department heads – which he said has been either overlooked or sacrificed during the recession.
Many of the county's top managers are baby boomers, and while Perry said many of them don't have immediate plans for retirement, that prospect is not far off in the future.
As such, he budgeted one-time general fund money for staff development, explaining to the board that he wanted to work with Marymount California University – which just opened its newest campus at the county-owned Lucerne Hotel – to develop staff training programs.
Perry said he also wants to continue to cultivate the relationship between the county and Marymount, as the four-year university's presence in Lake County offers local youth a great opportunity for education and also is a benefit to county employees.
In her last budget hearing, Board Chair Denise Rushing – who is leaving the board when her term expires at the end of this year – expressed gratitude to the board and county staff, who she said had worked as a team to manage in difficult times.
“This is one of the toughest budgets we've seen and we've said that since 2008,” she said.
Board looks at department challenges
Throughout the day, the board went over high points of each department budget with county administrative staff and the respective department heads.
Many of the departments continue to face challenges such as funding, hiring and retention.
For Animal Care and Control, Director Bill Davidson sought the board's direction on reduced hours of operation.
The agency is suggesting having a later opening of 11 a.m., which Davidson said isn't particularly late in the day when looking at other animal control agencies around the region.
The board approved a temporary, four-month reduction in hours – from October through January – with the supervisors to revisit the issue at the start of next year.
The Lake County Library also is facing reduced funding levels and challenges in having the needed funds to continue buying books and other materials, so its department head has to look at places to cut.
County Librarian Christopher Veach said he's looked at a variety of options, with the only thing left to cut being library operating hours.
Retiring Assessor-Recorder Doug Wacker said his office has suffered due to the retirement of several of its experienced staff.
Wacker, assessing the county's economic recover, told the board that Lake was one of the last counties to go into the recession's economic downturn.
“We're still kind of digging our way out of it,” he said, noting that he is starting to see positive signs, like a decline in foreclosures, which in recent years had ballooned in Lake County as they had elsewhere.
“The thing I need now are experienced appraisers to get the job done,” Wacker said.
In the Community Development Department, it's proposed that a new Code Enforcement supervisor and a dedicated officer be added at a cost of $250,000 over two years.
Community Development Director Rick Coel said an updated nuisance abatement ordinance the county adopted in 2012 has streamlined the process, making it run more efficiently and reducing the time to get to nuisance abatement hearings, if they are needed.
“We really need a committed staff,” Coel said.
For Public Works, Director Scott De Leon said he's facing revenue levels that are trending down.
His road budget had $18 million in revenue in the 2012-13 budget year, rose to $22 million in 2013-14 and this year is down to $15.9 million. He said the changes are due to project-specific revenue.
Gas tax also is down, De Leon said.
Gas tax totaled $3.4 million in 2012-13, $3.7 million in 2013-14 and for the coming year has dropped to $3.2 million, he said.
Regarding tourism and marketing, in April the Board of Supervisors approved a staff proposal to close the county's Visitor Information Center in Lucerne. The center costs an estimated $175,000 to run each year.
Perry said the center is on track to close the first Monday in October, staying open through the Konocti Challenge.
The board's direction to staff in April had been to work on negotiating a contract with the Lake County Chamber of Commerce for taking over some of the Visitor Information Center's duties, including answering calls and emails, and providing services on the weekend.
Perry said he worked with chamber Chief Executive Officer Melissa Fulton on negotiating a contract. They came close but didn't finalize an agreement,” he said.
“I'm wondering if maybe there's other options out there,” said Perry.
Board members agreed with the idea of looking at other options, with that discussion to be planned for an upcoming meeting.
Fulton told the board that she believed the chamber was well suited to provide the marketing services to the county.
The chamber also will bring back a proposal, she said.
Fulton maintained that for the $53,000 that it was proposed that the chamber be paid for the Visitor Information Center duties, the county will get services identical to those it got when paying $175,000 annually to operate the center.
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