HOPLAND – A North Coast native and former Clearlake Police sergeant has been named the top cop for the Hopland Band of Pomos' police department.
The appointment of Brett Rhodes, 35, as Hopland Rancheria's newest police chief became official Jan. 11.
In that capacity he'll oversee a department of seven sworn police officers – each of whom has a dual role, both as a tribal officer and a federal police officer. The department's primary jurisdiction is the 2,000-square-acre Hopland Band of Pomo Indians Reservation.
The Sonoma County native – who today lives in Lake County – has an associate's degree in criminal justice from Santa Rosa Junior College, and a bachelor's degree in criminal law and a master's degree in public administration, both from Sonoma State University.
Beginning in 1993, Rhodes worked as a police cadet while at Santa Rosa Junior College. In 2001 he joined Clearlake Police, where he worked until 2009 in a variety of capacities, including field training officer and detective.
When he got his start there, then-Police Chief Bob Chalk allowed the young officer to work his schedule around his school work.
In 2007 Rhodes was promoted to sergeant at Clearlake Police, where in June 207 interim Police Chief Larry Todd called Rhodes a “bright star in the future of this department.”
“Clearlake definitely provided me a lot of structure in my law enforcement career and I'm very thankful for that,” he said.
At about the same time as he was chosen to be the Hopland Rancheria police chief, Rhodes also was in the final four candidates for the Orland Police Department's new chief.
He's looking forward to his work at Hopland, which is one of the few Northern California rancherias to have its own police force.
“This agency has been well regarded for tribal policing efforts,” he said.
In April 1997, the Hopland Tribal Police Department resulted from an ordinance created by the tribe's council, which appointed Wesley M. Clark as the tribe's first chief of police, according to a department history.
Clark, who would remain in his position until 2001, went on to organize the department using the California Peace Officer Standards and Training regulations as the model for the department's professional police standards.
The Tribal Court Clearinghouse reports that there are more than 200 police departments in Indian Country nationwide.
According to the National Congress of American Indians, there are about 2,380 Bureau of Indian Affairs and tribal uniformed officers available to serve an estimated 1.4 million Indians covering over 56 million acres of tribal lands in the lower 48 states.
In California, there is a small number of tribal police forces. In addition to Hopland, they include the Yurok tribe and Hoopa in Northern California and in Southern California Quechan, Sycuan and Pechanga.
Hopland's police officers are federally commissioned officers and employees of the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs, Rhodes said. Rhodes said his department is the only federal agency assigned to a tribal reservation within Mendocino County.
Rhodes credits his predecessors including Mike Meese – who had been instrumental in solving the Polly Klaas murder case before joining the rancheria as its chief – for efforts in building up the department.
In Meese's case, he was instrumental in getting federal status for the department's officers, Rhodes explained. “He really took things to the next level.”
In recent years the tribal police force also has established memoranda of understanding with Mendocino County officials.
Rhodes said his agency can directly book arrestees into the Mendocino County Jail and can direct file cases with the Mendocino County District Attorney's Office, rather than having to go through the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office, as they once were required to do.
“This puts us more on par with other agencies in the county,” Rhodes said.
Rhodes said the federally commissioned police department assigned to the Hopland Reservation is only 1 of 29 tribal field offices to receive the coveted U.S. Dept of Justice’s NCIC System, a national criminal index system, which all other municipal, county, and state agencies currently have.
He said he brings a progressive style of police management to his new post. In particular, Rhodes – who hopes to grow the size of his department – said he supports mentoring officers in an effort to develop leadership from within.
The department is funded through the tribe's general fund, but has several supplemental federal grants which allow the department to branch out and focus efforts on specific areas of crime reduction. Rhodes said the department recently co-wrote a methamphetamine prevention grant that they will manage but which will also benefit the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office.
Part of what makes the department work, said Rhodes, is a progressive tribal council “that sees the bigger picture” and supports the police department.
Tribal Chair Roman Carrillo Jr. was away and unavailable for comment when contacted this week by Lake County News.
Rhodes said he has hit the ground running, and is spending time evaluating the department for efficiency.
The tribe has about 800 members, but many of them live off the rancheria, he explained. In addition to patrolling the rancheria, the tribal police also patrol property owned by the tribe located in Hopland, and assist the sheriff's office when needed.
Their primary focus is on the small tribal community and its casino, Hopland Sho-Ka-Wah, where alcohol-related issues, thefts and drug sales have been noted previous issues. Peak call times are the summer months, when more visitors frequent the casino.
The biggest difference between his officers and those in other departments is their responsibility to enforce federal law, said Rhodes.
He said the department follows all the hiring protocol other departments do, including adherence to the state's Peace Officer Standards and Testing (POST).
All officers must be POST-certified; in addition, Rhodes said they're sent to a federal transition training, which is a supplemental training course. Officers also must be trained in tribal ordinances, which are part of the laws they enforce.
He's a proponent of community policing, which includes having a high profile in the community in general and making appearances at important community events, both on the rancheria and in the neighboring communities.
“These are all things that build rapport with those who you're serving,” he said.
His officers recently completed a two-day community oriented police training put on by the federal government.
“What is boils down to is public service and policing is problem solving – that's what we do,” he said.
He's also put out a survey to the tribal community to get a sense of their expectations and create a baseline for the department's services going forward.
“It'll take us some time to crunch the data and see where we want to hone our efforts,” he said.
He emphasized an open-door policy with community members.
Rhodes is a member of the International Police Chiefs Association and the California Tribal Chiefs Association, which met in San Diego recently.
“This is a great time for this change because we have a lot of new programs rolling out at this time,” he said.
Those include some expected announcements based on agreements with other agencies, new paint jobs for the department's police cars and planned remodeling of the tribal police station.
“Our bottom line is creating an atmosphere where the quality of life is good,” said Rhodes, and people are safe to come and visit.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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