How to resolve AdBlock issue? Supervisors ask sheriff to reinstate records access to Lakeport Police, Probation; Lakeport considering legal action
LAKEPORT, Calif. – At the end of a two and a half hour long special meeting on Friday, the Lake County Board of Supervisors asked the sheriff to reinstate access to county law enforcement records for the Lakeport Police Department and Probation, to work collaboratively with other law enforcement chiefs and to seek a records audit from the California Attorney General’s Office.
Sheriff Frank Rivero said he would not restore access to the records information management system, or RIMS, to Lakeport Police, and would only give Probation limited access after cutting them off earlier this week, but said he would be willing to discuss setting up protocols for access with a task force of representatives from other law enforcement agencies as well as Supervisor Jeff Smith.
Rivero said he also would welcome an audit from the Attorney General’s Office, but wanted District Attorney Don Anderson to join with him in making the request.
Following the meeting, Anderson told Lake County News that he would definitely join with Rivero in seeking the audit.
For Lakeport Police Chief Brad Rasmussen, while he said afterward that he appreciated the board’s action, he said Rivero’s refusal to allow him back into the shared records system hamstrings his department. That’s because Lakeport Police contracts with the county for dispatch services, with records from the incoming calls being placed into the sheriff’s system.
While Rivero told the board that he’s providing to Lakeport Police information from his agency’s Computer Assisted Dispatch program, or CAD, Rasmussen said that information is not coming over electronically as was promised. Instead, his officers are getting blank messages, and must call the county’s Central Dispatch to ask for the information to be faxed.
County Counsel Anita Grant informed the board that the city of Lakeport was prepared to file a lawsuit over breach of the dispatch contract based on its interpretation of the document. Rasmussen said he considers RIMS access to be part of the dispatch service, although it’s not specified in the document.
As for whether the city might proceed with legal action, “It’s certainly something that I’m recommending that we need to explore immediately,” said Rasmussen, who met with City Attorney Steve Brookes and City Manager Margaret Silveira – who also were in attendance in the board chambers – after the meeting.
Rasmussen said he, Brookes and Silveira are set to discuss the matter further next week. Ultimately, the decision would be up to the Lakeport City Council, four of whose members – Stacey Mattina, Martin Scheel, Tom Engstrom and Marc Spillman – were at the meeting and who appeared frustrated over Rivero’s refusal to work with their police department.
“I am exploring every option, because I don’t know what might happen in the future,” said Rasmussen, noting his arrangement for dispatch services no longer was working as it had, or as he needed it to do.
He added of Rivero, “I’m not going to back down to him.”
The Board of Supervisors called the special meeting in response to a letter from the city of Lakeport, signed by Engstrom, asking for immediate action.
Of the five board members, only Denise Rushing, Rob Brown and Jim Comstock were available, with Jeff Smith and Anthony Farrington out of town. The vote was 3-0 to ask Rivero to restore access, work with the task force and seek the audit.
This latest matter has arisen a little over a month after the Board of Supervisors gave Rivero a unanimous no confidence vote based on his performance. At that time, other law enforcement officials had pointed to difficulties in working with Rivero, who the District Attorney’s Office placed on a list of officers with credibility issues for allegedly lying about his actions during a nonfatal 2008 shooting.
Sheriff says he’s protecting information
The room was filled with law enforcement officials, including the majority of the Lakeport Police Department staff, as well as Clearlake Police Chief Craig Clausen, Probation Chief Rob Howe, California Highway Patrol Clear Lake Area Office Commander Lt. Greg Baarts and State Parks Clear Lake Superintendent Bill Salata.
In addition, there were Silveira and the four Lakeport City Council members, Clearlake Mayor Jeri Spittler, Clearlake Councilman Joey Luiz and Clearlake City Manager Joan Phillipe.
Rivero told the board that he was attempting to control sensitive law enforcement information, and his actions were part of tightening control of who can access that information. He said he started that effort when he took office and claimed he found many inappropriate accesses and was still finding them, and that it’s a crime to incorrectly access such records.
Throughout the meeting, Rivero indicated he was unwilling to relinquish any control of the system, and insisted that the decisions to cut off access to fellow agencies – despite assertions that the system was meant to be shared – were within his right.
Rivero said that on April 18 he received his latest update on the number of log ins and passwords, and found there were 225 people with access.
He disputed that there are any public safety issues as a result of cutting off or limiting access, and said he was within the constraints of the county’s dispatch contract with the Lakeport Police Department.
Rivero said he cut Lakeport Police’s access, had an exchange with Rasmussen and then said his curiosity was piqued, so he conducted an audit. He said he found hundreds of inquiries from the agency in the RIMS system between Jan. 1 and April 23 which he said went behind the CAD usage that he claimed Rasmussen had sought. Rasmussen said later that Rivero had twisted his words, and that his department’s usage always had gone beyond just CAD.
Rushing asked if those accesses were inappropriate. “Are you filing charges? Was it a crime that took place?”
Rivero responded that there was no way to verify if those accesses were legitimate. “These officers were not under my control,” and he couldn’t undertake an internal affairs investigation, he said, adding that Rasmussen himself had made 12 inquiries in that time.
He went on to argue that it was a “herculean” task to have to audit the many inquiries from the various agencies. Rivero also alleged that a Lakeport Police officer accessed the system and changed information about his wife. “That is wholly inappropriate.”
Rivero maintained of Lakeport Police, “I don’t believe they need access to RIMS.”
Brown said if there was an issue of questionable access, it made sense to have a task force of the agencies that use RIMS. If there was illegal action, he said, “I want to see somebody arrested,” and he offered to let them run an audit check on his personal records.
“So what you’re telling me is, you want to run the sheriff’s office?” said Rivero.
Brown said he was only making a recommendation, to which Rivero emphasized he was elected to run the agency. “There’s many ways to harm people,” and releasing records is one of them, said Rivero. “I am the sheriff and I make these decisions.”
Brown said he didn’t want to run the sheriff’s department. “I want the sheriff to run it in an appropriate manner.”
He later asked Rivero who was auditing his use of the system. If he had a problem, Rivero responded, Brown could contact the Department of Justice.
Referring to a four-inch stack of documents Rivero had with him at the podium, Comstock asked, “Are those confidential records?” And, if so, Comstock asked if it was it appropriate to have them there.
Rivero said they were and they were safe in his custody.
Lakeport officials speak to public safety, collaboration
Silveira thanked the board for having the meeting so quickly.
Referring to Lakeport Police, she said those who are keeping the community safe need to have all the tools in the tool box available, adding that she had the utmost respect for Rasmussen and his staff.
If Rivero had gone to Rasmussen and said there was a problem, “Our department would have done an investigation,” she said, explaining that such an allegation would be taken seriously.
Lakeport Police has had access to those shared law enforcement records for decades. “A call would have been the respectful thing to do,” Silveira said.
Rasmussen, whose voice was hoarse from days of phone calls and meetings in response to Rivero’s action, recounted finding out that his agency had been cut off without warning, with Rivero initially saying there were no issues.
After telling Rivero he felt he was endangering officers and the Lakeport community, Rasmussen went public with his concerns. Afterward, Rivero raised new allegations of “hundreds” of inappropriate accesses to the system, Rasmussen said.
“I submit that these are simply the sheriff’s allegations and that he does not know these are, in fact, violations,” said Rasmussen.
Rather than trying to work together on a solution, Rivero simply cut Lakeport Police out, said Rasmussen. “This is typical of Sheriff Rivero’s response to things.”
In response to Rivero’s statements about Rasmussen’s use of the system, Rasmussen explained that, in one of those cases, on March 26, he ran a RIMS check on a sex offender from the county jurisdiction who had been reported to have had contact with young females in downtown Lakeport. “This information was needed to see if there was a violation of the law.”
He added, “Information needs to be shared.” Rasmussen said the information in the system also is critical to his department’s efforts to pursue grants, adding that the potential loss of hundreds of thousands of dollars in grants “is very much an officer and community safety issue.”
Innocent citizens get hurt and killed when law enforcement doesn't work together, Rasmussen said, adding that the situation shows Rivero’s inability to work collaboratively with other agencies.
“I will not stand by and allow Sheriff Rivero to endanger my staff or my community,” Rasmussen said, ending by asking the board to take whatever action was necessary to fix the situation.
Rushing asked Rasmussen about what alternatives he had. Rasmussen suggested a face-to-face meeting with Rivero, and said he was considering other options as well.
Comstock noted that 32 years ago, Sgt. Richard Helbush was fatally shot, and one of the reasons for his death is that he didn’t have information about a couple he encountered along the road. “He lost his life because of that.”
Howe told the board that he, too, was cut out without notice, and that whereas before he had 15 people with access to the system, now Rivero only wanted to allow one. “For me it’s a big efficiency issue.”
He said he asked Rivero why he was removed, and Rivero had not been able to point to an inappropriate use. Howe added that he was suspicious that Rivero could come up with hundreds of alleged inappropriate uses of the RIMS system by Rasmussen and his staff in one afternoon after the Lakeport Police press release went out. He said he expected Rivero would bring up similar allegations of inappropriate use against him.
Anderson said he sympathized with Howe and Rasmussen after his agency also was cut out of RIMS two years ago because Rivero was angry at him.
“He is putting my investigators in jeopardy,” said Anderson, adding, “God help him” if any of those personnel are ever harmed as a result.
Anderson, who as a young deputy had helped apprehend Helbush’s killers, agreed with Comstock that Helbush would have lived had he had the right information.
He said Rivero has never submitted any cases to the District Attorney’s Office for wrongful use of RIMS.
Brown recalled a meeting he, Rivero and now-retired County Administrative Officer Kelly Cox had had in which Rivero had alleged Anderson’s investigators were illegally using the system. Brown said he left the meeting and went to get Anderson. By the time they returned to Cox’s office to meet with Rivero, Rivero had left. They later found there had been no wrongful use.
It was part of the “nonsense” Rivero claims about fighting corruption, said Brown. Anderson replied that not only has Rivero never submitted any case for prosecution relating to RIMS, but neither has he sent over a report about corruption in county government, adding that the state Department of Justice also hasn’t received such information.
“It’s a sad day in law enforcement that we’re here,” said Clearlake Police Chief Craig Clausen, whose department has reader access in the sheriff’s system.
He explained that when the sheriff’s office purchased its RIMS system –which county records say happened in 2002 – the intention was that all of the local law enforcement agencies could make use of it as a move toward becoming paperless and more efficient.
It can be catastrophic if they can’t get the information they need. “It absolutely hamstrings us,” Clausen said. “We’re going back 30 years in our technology.”
Later in the meeting, as Howe had predicted, Rivero said he had begun an audit of Probation’s use of RIMS and said there was a questionable matter of a Probation staffer with access who had allegedly threatened another officer.
Howe later told Lake County News that the probation officer in question had been terminated. He said Rivero’s claim that Probation had been negligent in allowing that person to still have access was “ridiculous.”
“That person was removed from county access,” which is necessary to access RIMS, Howe said.
Seeking ‘grown up’ solutions
During public comment, Barbara Galvan, the mother of a firefighter, said first responders need to have all the information they can get. “We have a grown up problem, we need a grown up solution.”
Lakeport Police Officer Gary Basor, speaking on behalf of the Lakeport Police Officers Association, said the group fully supported Rasmussen and his administration.
Basor said officers relied on the records stored in the sheriff’s RIMS system, with that information being used for photo lineups, warrant service and many other legitimate uses. He said they also were concerned about Probation’s loss of access.
Bob Chalk, Clearlake’s retired police chief and a candidate for sheriff, questioned why Rivero would stop access before he actually researched the penal code provisions governing the sharing of information, as the sheriff acknowledged doing earlier in the meeting. He also questioned why Rivero hadn’t raised issues with Lakeport Police’s use of the information earlier on, pointing out Rivero has been in office for two years.
He said RIMS is an important tool for law enforcement. Chalk offered three recommendations: that access immediately be restored, that the sheriff work with department heads to have a mutual agreement for the system’s future use and that security levels be set in the system to allow for different levels of access, which the system offers.
Walter Patti, who retired to Kelseyville after serving as a police chief in Connecticut, said he supported information sharing at all levels. “It is in the best interest of law enforcement and the communities they serve.”
Patti pointed to the handling of the Boston Marathon bombing, explaining that law enforcement agencies at all levels worked very closely and helped lead to an arrest. “It’s a good example of how sharing of information and collaboration works.”
Grant told the board that the law prevented them from obstructing the work of the sheriff or the district attorney, and that if they were to seek an independent audit they couldn’t do it without the sheriff’s permission.
Ahead of the motion and vote, Rushing asked Rivero if he was open to working with other agencies in a spirit of cooperation to come up with protocols for use.
“Let’s just be real clear about this,” said Rivero. “Access to Probation can be restored right now.”
However, he wasn’t intending to restore it fully as Howe had asked.
Concerning the requested restoration of Lakeport Police’s access, “the answer is no,” said Rivero, alleging abuse.
The board went on to vote 3-0 to make its requests of Rivero.
Howe said Friday that he was still trying to negotiate with Rivero for access to RIMS, explaining that he was offering some solutions, including limiting the number of staff who could access the information and having read-only access.
Since they will no longer be able to update information on individuals on probation, Howe is offering to have his staff train Rivero’s dispatch staff on how that work is done.
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Lakeport Police, sheriff in dispute over access to law enforcement records system
LAKEPORT, Calif. – The county’s sheriff has become embroiled in a new dispute after locking the Lakeport Police Department out of a county law enforcement records system, a move that it’s alleged could compromise public safety.
Lakeport Police Chief Brad Rasmussen said he and his staff were locked out of the county’s Records Information Management System, or RIMS, by Sheriff Frank Rivero without warning, discovering it on Tuesday afternoon.
Then, on Wednesday, Rivero followed up by accusing the Lakeport Police Department of misusing the system after having initially told Rasmussen that it was part of an auditing issue.
“We don’t want to play into the sheriff’s games and antics, and this is exactly what I expected from him,” Rasmussen said.
Lake County Probation Chief Rob Howe also reported that his agency was locked out of the system on Tuesday.
Rasmussen said the city of Lakeport has asked the Board of Supervisors to take immediate action to deal with the situation that has resulted from Rivero’s unilateral decision, which Rasmussen said is jeopardizing his officers’ safety and that of the public.
A letter asking for the action, signed by Lakeport Mayor Tom Engstrom – the city’s retired police chief – was delivered to the Board of Supervisors late Wednesday afternoon, Rasmussen said.
The contract for the system is between the county of Lake, not the sheriff’s office, and Sun Ridge Systems Inc., the software’s developer, according to the contract, which Lake County News obtained from the county administration. The Board of Supervisors approved purchasing the system in June of 2002; the initial expenditure was $213,197, with annual expenditures of $28,830, according to county documents.
County Internet Technology Director Shane French said the sheriff’s office controls who has access and handles all of the permission issues, and his department offers technical support. He said nobody had directed him or his staff to lock anyone out, as they don’t have the ability.
It’s not the first time Rivero has locked another agency out of RIMS, the security of which Rivero claims he is tightening up in order to protect law enforcement records.
District Attorney Don Anderson said his staff was locked out in April 2011, and despite reaching a formal contract with Rivero the access still has not been restored.
“It’s hurt a lot of investigations,” said Anderson.
Information and safety
Rasmussen said his department relies on RIMS records for its everyday operations. The records include daily police logs generated for local media, public records act requests, statistics for grants writing, booking records, sex registrant compliance history and calls for service statistics, which include the officer’s response time, nature of call and action taken by the officer.
In addition to those records, the police department relies on Computer Aided Dispatch logs to submit cases to the District Attorney’s Office for filing, Rasmussen said.
In a press release issued by his office Wednesday afternoon, Rivero said his agency and the Lakeport Police Department maintain separate RIMS systems. “It is unnecessary for the Lakeport Police Department to have access to the Lake County Sheriff’s Office criminal information system, when they have their own system that the Sheriff’s Office does not have nor wants access to.”
However, according to several local law enforcement chiefs, the sheriff’s RIMS system has been used cooperatively by their agencies since the sheriff’s office purchased the system in 2002 as a way of sharing information.
Anderson said the sharing of information between local law enforcement agencies “is one of the greatest tools we’ve got.”
The situation between Rivero and Rasmussen continued to escalate on Wednesday, after Rasmussen issued a press release that raised concerns about officer and public safety.
In a subsequent Wednesday afternoon email exchange, Rivero accused Lakeport Police staff of misusing RIMS, and notified Rasmussen that temporary access that had been granted to the system for Rasmussen, Lt. Jason Ferguson and the agency’s two sergeants would be revoked because he claimed they all were accessing RIMS information to which they were not entitled.
“Had the sheriff had such a problem with this on Tuesday, perhaps he should have made me aware of his concerns at that time and not after I made my safety concerns public,” said Rasmussen. “I asked the sheriff yesterday if any of my people had done anything wrong or done anything inappropriate and his response was, ‘No, absolutely not.’”
If a problem truly had existed, Rasmussen said Rivero should have called him first to discuss actions to take. Instead, access was shut down without warning.
“To shut down my entire system and hamstring my operations is totally ridiculous,” said Rasmussen.
Rivero is now claiming that an audit he carried out since speaking with Rasmussen on Tuesday showed that agency members were inappropriately looking up information, including one officer who allegedly changed information about his wife in the system.
Rasmussen said Rivero is claiming that the Lakeport Police department has had “hundreds” of inappropriate accesses to RIMS in the last four months.
On Wednesday Rasmussen received an envelope full of documents from Rivero, who is alleging that those documents show wrongful use of the system.
Asked how Rivero could know that all of those cases were the result of inappropriate access, Rasmussen responded, “He doesn’t know that.”
In reviewing the cases, Rasmussen said he’s seeing access related to his department’s investigations.
He and his command staff are now going through the records to see if there was any inappropriate conduct. If any is found, they will conduct an investigation and take the necessary action.
The Lakeport Police Department has contracted with the county of Lake for dispatch services for decades; that agreement was in place 24 years ago, when Rasmussen became a Lakeport Police officer.
The most recent version of the contract, from 2005, has the city paying the county $87,600 annually for the services. Because Lakeport Police’s dispatch services go through the sheriff’s office, information on their cases are collected in the sheriff’s system, Rasmussen said.
He said he advised Rivero that cutting off RIMS had the effect of breaching the dispatch contract. During their email exchange, Rivero disagreed, saying the contract doesn’t specifically mention RIMS.
“It’s been a custom and a practice that we’ve had that as part of this service,” Rasmussen said of RIMS, thus his assertion that being locked out is a violation of the dispatch contract.
Rivero ended by telling Rasmussen in an email that the temporary access to the system he granted would end at 8 a.m. Thursday.
“I think it shows the sheriff’s inability to work with other law enforcement for the good of the community,” Rasmussen said.
In the sheriff’s office press release, said to have been written by Lt. Steve Brooks but containing language identical to that contained in the emails to Rasmussen, it was noted that, “By law, Sheriff Rivero has the responsibility of protecting the information contained within the system.”
It stated that Rasmussen had assured Rivero before the audit “that there had not been any unauthorized access by him or his staff.”
The press statement continued, “Due to Sheriff Rivero’s audit findings and the inconsistencies of Chief Rasmussen’s statements, coupled with his failure to take responsibility for his staff,” Rivero ordered the temporarily access granted the administration and supervisors of the Lakeport Police Department canceled as of 8 a.m. Thursday.
Rivero continues to provide Lakeport Police with access to system information through an alternative method, according to the statement.
“That information is not coming to us as he said it would,” Rasmussen countered.
Other agencies affected
The allegations that Rivero has used to justify cutting off Lakeport Police from the RIMS system don’t explain why the sheriff’s office cut off the Lake County Probation Department.
Howe said his employees notified him on Tuesday morning that they couldn’t get into the system. When he called the sheriff’s office, command staff told him he needed to contact Rivero personally, which he did.
“We’ve actually had quite a bit of back and forth,” said Howe, adding that Rivero has offered to allow just one Probation Department staffer access.
On Wednesday Howe and his staff remained without access. Howe said Rivero has not offered a clear justification for his actions. “I’m assuming something happened to prompt this.”
When it comes to explaining the action, “I have asked him several times,” said Howe.
He’s gotten vague answers from Rivero, who has claimed that having to audit all of the Probation Department’s staff’s use of RIMS is too labor intensive and burdensome for him.
Howe, formerly a command staff member with the sheriff’s office, said the system was meant to be shared. He said his staff’s input into the system actually offers more benefit to sheriff’s deputies than vice versa.
“We input current probation information,” he said, including current information, addresses and contacts.
That benefits deputies or officers in the field who make contact with those individuals. “For any officer in the field that requests a RIMS check, they would get probation status,” said Howe.
Now they can’t update that information, and neither can they access the InCustody portion of RIMS, which allows them to draw information from the jail for the kinds of reports that are Probation’s responsibility to provide to the courts, Howe said.
Now, they must either go to the jail or make a call and request the information, rather than being able to pull the information up on the computer. “It has certainly decreased our efficiency,” Howe said.
Clearlake Police Chief Craig Clausen said his agency has its own RIMS system; part of the big selling points of having it was that they would be operating on the same system as the sheriff’s office. “That way we can share.”
Clearlake Police’s RIMS link began having trouble Monday evening. On Tuesday, after hearing about Rasmussen’s issues, he contacted the sheriff’s office, with command staff telling him that he had been disconnected and to call Rivero himself.
Clausen couldn’t get through to Rivero – he said Rivero’s cell phone mailbox was full – but on Wednesday command staff told him he wasn’t locked out, and a tech from Sun Ridge Systems said it appeared to be a technical issue.
In an effort to become paperless, Rivero’s predecessor, Sheriff Rod Mitchell, had put the system in place with the idea of allowing all of the agencies access, Clausen said.
He said the sheriff’s department is the hub, and his department has limited access to the RIMS information, including contact information, probation status and terms of probation, the kinds of information that Howe said his staff updates. It also contains officer safety flags and has a messaging system between departments.
Clausen said restrictions can be written into the program to limit what certain people can see. He said the system also allows local law enforcement to get information from systems outside of the county, including agencies in areas like Cloverdale and Calistoga.
Sheriff’s motives questioned
As for what’s behind Rivero’s issues with RIMS and allied agencies, he’s not raised the matter at the monthly meetings of the allied chiefs, where Clausen said Rivero’s attendance has been “sporadic” at best.
Anderson said Rivero has been to one meeting in the last year and a half. Rivero unsuccessfully asked his fellow law enforcement chiefs for money at a meeting six months ago – during which Anderson said he and Rivero “got into it” – and Rivero hasn’t been back.
Regarding the motivation to lock out Probation, “I could speculate all day long,” said Howe, adding that he wouldn’t do that.
For Anderson, the reasons seem clear cut.
Revenge, he said, is “the only motivation it can be.”
Anderson recounted a series of disagreements he and Rivero had in early 2011 shortly after taking office that he said led to the District Attorney’s Office being locked out of RIMS.
He said Rivero refused to continue the subpoena service the sheriff’s office had done, then stopped sending copies of police reports, and Anderson said Rivero was angry about the decision not to prosecute Clausen for an assault allegation in a case that Rivero tried to resurrect after he came into office.
“He got mad at me over these three issues and cut our office from RIMS,” which happened in April 2011, Anderson said.
Publicly, the matter was blamed on investigators in Anderson’s office who had worked as part-time dispatchers for the sheriff’s office. They had been accessing the system and updating information, and it was working well, said Anderson.
In a report that Rivero hired California Judicial Investigations to complete in 2011, Anderson’s agency – not unlike Rasmussen’s – was accused of having inappropriately accessed RIMS, with four investigators who previously had been sheriff’s employees alleged to have looked at approximately 4,984 records. The report did not specify what constituted a “record.”
Those four individuals were accused of having used their previous sheriff’s office passwords and credentials to access the system, rather than the new ones issued to them when they were hired by the District Attorney’s Office.
Despite those allegations, Rivero and Anderson agreed upon – and signed – an October 2011 memorandum of understanding that authorized limited, read-only access to RIMS by the District Attorney’s Office for the purpose of maintaining the most current contact information on subjects.
However, Rivero has failed to honor that MOU. “Basically, he just lied to us. I don’t think he ever had any intention of allowing us reader access into RIMS when he made this agreement,” Anderson said.
“He’s taken away a great tool in law enforcement,” said Anderson. “It makes it a lot more difficult, not only trying to locate people but trying to investigate crimes.”
Anderson said that it’s common in other counties for agencies to work cooperatively and to share such information systems.
About a month after Rivero and Anderson reached the MOU for RIMS access, Anderson notified Rivero via letter that he was considering a “Brady” determination against him for allegedly lying to investigators about his actions during a nonfatal 2008 shooting. At the time, Rivero was a deputy sheriff who shot at a man with a can of pepper spray, a department policy violation.
This past February, Anderson determined Rivero was a “Brady” officer. The term comes from the 1963 US Supreme Court case Brady v. Maryland, which requires the government release to criminal defendants any potentially exculpatory information, including determinations that officers involved in their cases have credibility issues.
A key witness in Anderson’s investigation was former Deputy Michael Sobieraj, who had been at the shooting scene with Rivero.
Sobieraj, who left the sheriff’s office in early 2011, citing harassing treatment by Rivero, was hired by the Lakeport Police Department last month.
As for what other motivations Rivero may have to block Lakeport Police and Probation, Howe’s assistant chief, Brian Martin, recently declared his intention to run for sheriff, and both men are listed as signatories for the recall effort now under way to remove Rivero from office. Supporters gathered nearly 1,000 signatures last weekend.
Howe said there has been precedent for firing employees for misuse of RIMS.
He was referring to the case in 2010 in which then-Deputy Mike Morshed was alleged to have taken reports from RIMS and posted them online, as Lake County News has reported ( http://bit.ly/12J1792 ). Morshed, a friend of Rivero’s – Rivero suggested at the time that Morshed had been “railroaded” – later was terminated.
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042413 Mayor Engstrom Letter to BOS
2005 Lakeport Police Department Dispatch Service Agreement
2002 Lake County RIMS Contract
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Police arrest Clearlake man in sexual assault case
CLEARLAKE, Calif. – A Clearlake man has been taken into custody based on allegations of sexual assault.
Scott Coleman Anderson, 48, was arrested on Wednesday morning, according to Sgt. Nick Bennett of the Clearlake Police Department.
At 2:40 a.m. Wednesday Clearlake Police officers were dispatched to St. Helena Hospital Clear Lake on a report of a female who had been brought there and was possibly a victim of a sexual assault, Bennett said.
Officers determined the 51-year-old female had been found lying alongside the road by a passing motorist in the area of Arrowhead Road and Colusa Street, according to Bennett.
Bennett said an initial investigation by Officer Brad Middleton indicated the alleged victim had been at a residence on Arrowhead Drive earlier and the male occupant of the residence began to make advances toward her. When she resisted those advances, the suspect forced himself on her and sexually assaulted her.
The alleged victim was finally able to flee the residence and fell to the ground a short distance from the residence. There she was seen by the passing motorist who picked her up and took her to the hospital, Bennett said.
Clearlake detectives were called in to take over the investigation. Bennett said further investigation resulted in the arrest of Anderson, who resides on Arrowhead Road.
Anderson was booked into Lake County Jail on felony charges of rape by force, oral copulation, sexual penetration with a foreign object and sexual battery. Bail was set at $100,000, according to jail records.
Bennett said Clearlake Police acknowledged and thanked the Lake County Rape Crises Center for its assistance in this case.
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Sheriff’s recall proponents receive go-ahead to begin gathering signatures to get on ballot
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The proponents of an effort to recall the county’s sheriff received approval this week to begin the process of gathering signatures in order to make it onto the ballot later this year.
Registrar of Voters Diane Fridley said she notified the recall proponents that they could begin the signature drive to take Sheriff Frank Rivero’s removal from office to a vote. That followed her approval of the format and language of the recall petitions based on state election code.
According to Fridley, the group has 120 days to gather a minimum of 7,026 signatures of registered Lake County voters, with the deadline being Aug. 15. The petitions may only be circulated by registered Lake County voters.
If the proponents want to have the recall election consolidated with the general district election on Nov. 5, she suggested they have the signed petitions submitted by June 17 in order to give her staff time to examine and verify the signatures.
That June date is 91 days before the Nov. 5 election; Fridley said once the Board of Supervisors issues the order of election, it must be held not less than 88 days, nor more than 125 days, later.
The Committee to Recall Rivero and Restore Integrity, www.recallrivero.com , which served Rivero with notice of intention to begin the recall process last month, said it has launched the effort because of his unethical and unprofessional conduct, his failure to keep campaign promises such as forming a citizens’ oversight committee and alienating law enforcement.
However, the group said the main motivation was District Attorney Don Anderson’s decision in February to place Rivero on a list of officers with credibility issues.
Anderson made that decision after spending nearly two years investigating allegations that Rivero lied about a 2008 nonfatal shooting.
Rivero, then a deputy sheriff, shot at a man holding a can of pepper spray, a violation of department policy. According to Anderson’s report, Rivero originally told investigators that he saw the man holding the pepper spray, later changing his story to claim he couldn’t see it.
The recall proponents said that people who want to sign the petitions don’t have to worry about retaliation, as the forms will not be available for anyone to see them.
Fridley confirmed that no one, other than election officials and the committee itself – and in the case of the latter, only if they have insufficient signatures – can look at the forms. She said that is part of the election code and is meant to protect people from repercussions for supporting recalls.
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Clearlake Police Department introduces new phone system in response to large call volume
CLEARLAKE, Calif. – The Clearlake Police Department said it has instituted its new phone system in response to an increasing call volume.
People who call the department now are routed into a phone tree, rather than getting a live person, which Chief Craig Clausen said is because of the impacts on the small department’s dispatch center.
Clausen told the Clearlake City Council last week that his agency received nearly 12,000 calls last quarter.
All of those calls – many of them nonemergency or seeking general community information – were routed through the dispatch center, Clausen explained.
“It was inundating them,” he said, especially with only one dispatcher on duty.
The new phone system resulted, he said.
“So far it has worked amazingly well,” said Clausen.
Some community members have complained to Lake County News that they found the new system confusing and difficult to navigate, as well as being slower.
The system can be navigated as follows, according to Nicole Newton, the agency’s records and communications supervisor.
If you have an emergency, hang up and dial 911.
Press 1 if you know your party’s extension; once you hear the city hall greeting, enter the extension you wish to reach.
Press 2 to report a crime, request police response or reach the records department.
Press 3 to reach Clearlake Animal Control for nonemergencies.
Press 4 to reach property or evidence.
Press 5 for sex, narcotic, or arson registrations or to obtain a second hand dealer license.
Press 6 to reach volunteers or the “You Are Not Alone” – or YANA – program.
Some key direct extensions are evidence, 308; animal control, 115; and sex offender registrations, 320.
Newton said that all reports and incidents must go to dispatch first and then an officer will be assigned to the case.
She said citizens should not directly contact an officer to make a new report. “The only time the citizen should be contacting the officer directly is if they have an open, ongoing case with that officer.”
Newton explained that the department does not have unlimited incoming lines, so it is possible to get a busy signal if all the lines are busy.
“We often only have one dispatcher on duty at a time, so we ask the public to be patient and we will answer their calls as soon as possible,” she said.
The full roster of extensions, which the department also published on its Facebook page, is shown below.
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Clearlake Police Department Roster
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