CLEARLAKE – On Monday night Clearlake's police chief took to the City Council a request to create a new police officer trainee and police cadet program to help address his departments' staffing challenges.

The City Council session was a continuation of Thursday's regular meeting, which ran long. Councilmembers Judy Thein and Roy Simons were absent from the Monday night meeting.

Police Chief Allan McClain asked the council to consider approving his creation of police trainee and police cadet positions within the department.

McClain said his department has serious challenges in recruiting and retaining officers and dispatchers, and the program will allow them to bring in potential future officers and staffers.

The police officer trainee program will hire individuals prior to their entry into the police academy or while they're enrolled. The city will not incur expenses to pay for academy training, McClain added. Trainees will only be employed part-time.

The cadet program, said McClain, will seek out young people in the community who recently have graduated from high school, are enrolled in college, and interested in police or city government work.

Salary and benefits savings from vacant positions within the department will ensure that no additional funding will be required for the programs, said McClain.

Councilmember Joyce Overton asked if the trainees and cadets would carry weapons. McClain said no, they would not.

City Administrator Dale Neiman said a similar program was used in Fortuna, where he worked previously.

"This would be an opportunity to develop expertise locally," said Neiman.

Overton asked if trainees could switch from officer positions to dispatchers, which McClain confirmed they could.

City resident Jim Honegger said he had a few problems with the plan.

Honegger said it was his understanding that Measure P, the sales tax that helps fund the police department, requires that the funds be used to pay for sworn officers only.

McClain said that the program doesn't divert funds from officers, because the department constantly has openings. He said the program offers the department the chance to be at full staffing.

Added Neiman, "In the police department here we have a high turnover rate, which is pretty common in cities our size and smaller."

McClain said the department has limited monetary resources. He pointed out that the department lost four positions in this year's budget. "We're trying to find ways to overcome those issues."

Honegger also said he was concerned with the duties of the trainees.

Officer trainees would have a wide variety of responsibilities, including taking police reports, crime scene searches, working with crime prevention programs, process requests for police reports and public information, fingerprint individuals, serve as a parking enforcement officer, assist in receiving evidence and do records searches, according to McClain's report.

Cadet also have a long list of potential duties, McClain reported, including monitoring and enforcing noncriminal city ordinances, assist in abatements and crime scene processing, perform routine followup investigative work, serve in dispatch as required, maintain an assigned vehicle, make court appearance as necessary and work with the public.

He told Honegger that these same duties are what police department volunteers do now.

Cadets and trainees will be under direct supervision at all times, McClain added.

City resident Alice Reece agreed with Honegger's concerns.

Specifically, she asked about the number of officers the city is required to maintain, saying she understood that Measure P called for one officer for ever 500 city residents, which would require close to 30 officers in the department.

Council and city staffers said the city has never been at that staff level for police officers. McClain added that Measure P isn't bringing in enough money to fund that many positions.

"I think this is s step in the right direction," said Vice Mayor Chuck Leonard. "What we've done in the past hasn't worked."

City Finance Director Michael Vivrette clarified that the ratio of one officer to 500 citizens has to do with the general fund's contribution to supplement Measure P. "It is not a mandate of how much we have to achieve."

"I think we have to do something and I think this is a good step," said Overton.

"People will commit if they're brought in and they feel like they're part of the family," she added.

Overton said she would like to have a report back from McClain in six months to find out how the program is working.

The council approved the program 3-0.

In other police news, the council received an update on the department's projects and voted to surplus eight police vehicles.

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