CLEARLAKE, Calif. – The Clearlake Police Department – at full staffing for the first time in several years – is implementing new programs and community outreach, looking at ways to improve service and earn the community's trust.

That was the report from Lt. Tim Celli, the department's acting chief, at the Thursday Clearlake City Council meeting.

Before presenting the annual report to the council, Celli began by recognizing new employees and presenting annual employee awards.

Among the introductions were the two new police K9 teams, composed of Officer Mark Harden and “Zip” and Officer Travis Parson and “Bear.”

Before he went into law enforcement, Harden served in the US Marine Corps as an assault amphibian crew chief, Celli said.

In his 15 years in law enforcement, Harden has been a K9 handler, field training officer, and a firearms and weapons defense instructor. Celli said Harden previously was employed at the Napa Criminal Justice Training Center for seven years, where was a recruit training officer and drill instructor at the police academy.

Harden was paired with Zip, a 2-year-old Belgian Malinois, and together they recently completed their five-week basic training, Celli said.

When the audience applauded for the team, Zip began to bark excitedly, and since they were on duty that night, he and Harden left the meeting.

“They're pretty excited. They're spirited,” Celli said of the dogs.

Celli said Parson was a successful mechanic who felt the calling to help people. So he quit his job and put himself through the police academy, then began applying around the area before doing a ride-along with a former high school classmate who worked for Clearlake Police at the time.

After that one ride-along, Parson knew he had found the agency for him, and he's worked for the department since August of 2013, making a high number of arrests, Celli said.

Parson went through the difficult testing process and was selected as a K9 officer and paired with a 17-month-old Belgian Malinois named “Quick,” according to Celli.

However, thanks to a contest the Clearlake Police Department held with local seventh and eighth graders, a new name was selected for the dog – “Bear.”

Bear is trained in tracking, article search, building or area searches, suspect apprehension and handler protection, Celli said. Like Harden and Zip, Parson and Bear also just completed their basic handler course – held for the first time in Clearlake – and are now patrolling the city together.

“We're very proud to have them,” Celli said of the teams. “I think they're going to do a good job for us.”

Also on Thursday, Celli introduced new traffic enforcement officer, Mike Perreault, who has been with the department for nine months. An officer for eight and a half years, Perreault came to the Clearlake Police Department from Calistoga.

In January, the agency decided it needed a traffic unit, which was established by Feb. 1, Celli said. At that time it wasn't yet full-time, but about two to three days a week.

Since that time, Perreault has made 122 traffic stops, written 34 citations and made 12 arrests, including two for drunk driving and one for a warrant, Celli said.

Perreault is radar and lidar certified, and also is certified to instruct for the use of those technologies. He has attended traffic investigation and DUI enforcement school, is a drug abuse recognition expert and attended the Advanced Roadside Impaired Driving Evaluation School, Celli said.

Celli said Perreault has received seven regional and four statewide awards from Mothers Against Drunk Driving for DUI enforcement efforts during his career.

Perreault also got two radar units that had been sitting on the department's shelves recertified and recalibrated. Celli said Sgt. Rodd Joseph also is trained in using radar.

Celli said Perreault also is assisting this year with the “Every 15 Minutes” program presentation done annually in the county's high schools.

Celli then presented awards to department staff and volunteers. He said the awardees are nominated by fellow employees.

First up was Jim Hopkins, named volunteer of the year for his constant willingness to serve and his assistance in a variety of jobs – from transporting evidence to working the front counter, and guarding scenes. “He helps any which way he can,” Celli said.

“He's always there. He's always available. He comes in when we call him,” said Celli.

In a year's time, the department's volunteers donated more than 5,000 hours of service, according to Celli.

Mayor Russell Perdock thanked the volunteers. “This country runs on volunteerism,” he said.

Support services staffer of the year honors went to Det. Ryan Peterson, who Celli called “an outstanding employee.”

Peterson writes search warrants, gives great testimony in court and the District Attorney's Office is constantly trying to steal him away, Celli said.

Patrol division officer of the year honors went to Officer Michael Dietrick, a Lower Lake High School graduate like Celli.

“We're very proud to have him,” Celli said.

He added of Dietrick, “He's always out there handling calls for service, he does a very fine job for us, doesn't get any complaints, and he does an outstanding job,” said Celli, adding that Dietrick is “at the top of his class.”

The Clearlake Police Department annual report

Celli then presented the department's new annual report for calendar year 2015. He said he hadn't been able to find that such a report had actually been completed since 2007. “So it's been quite some time.”

In January the department decided to complete the comprehensive report as a baseline in the effort to implement some changes and to provide transparency about the agency's operations.

The department's mission statement, Celli said, is “to enhance public safety by providing professional, trustworthy service in partnership with the community.”

He added, “That is the mission that we set out to do each and every day.”

The Clearlake Police Department budget is sourced from the city's general fund and augmented by Measure P, the half-cent sales tax, Celli said.

The general fund in 2015 contributed to the agency's budget approximately $2,747,983, which Celli said equated to each citizen paying 50 cents per day for police services. Measure P provided an additional $857,749, which was used for front line services.

Together, those funding sources provided $3.6 million, all but $300,000 of which was used for personnel costs, Celli said.

As for staffing, one of the department's key challenges over the years, Celli said in 2015 the agency was budgeted for 22.5 officers – the half position is a detective – along with five dispatchers, one dispatch records supervisor and one evidence technician.

Most of the year they had 16 sworn police officers, including the chief, with nine of those officers acting as supervisors or investigators, Celli said.

Toward the end of 2015, the number of sworn staffers was brought up to 21.5, he said.

He said it's important to understand how long it takes to hire a police officer, explaining that from the time of application until hiring it can take three to four months. The new officer must then complete another 16 weeks of training with a field training officer before they can be on their beat alone.

Low staffing particularly impacted dispatch, which now has three dispatchers but was getting by with two dispatchers and a records supervisor staffing it around the clock, with assistance from officers who had to be taken off the street to cover, Celli said.

As for the department's enforcement activity, “It's one thing to say that we're busy but I was hoping that I could put it in some type of perspective for you,” Celli said.

In 2015, the department responded to 21,508 incidents, which Celli said equates to 2.46 incidents per officer every hour of every day.

He also reported the following statistics:

– 1,989 arrests, 5.45 arrests per-officer, per-day;
– 2,288 traffic enforcement stops, 6.27 traffic stops per-officer, per-day;
– 1,311 citations issued, 3.59 citations per-officer, per-day;
– 3,543 reports, 9.71 reports per-officer, per-day, with Celli explaining that a police report can take as little as 15 minutes or an entire shift – sometimes longer – to complete.

Regarding serious – or “part one” – crimes that need to be reported to the Federal Bureau of Investigation through uniform crime reporting, in 2015 there were increases in serious crimes including homicide, robbery, arson and vehicle theft, although other serious crime was down 8 percent overall, Celli said.

“It doesn't make a whole lot of sense,” Celli said of the statistics.

He said homicide was up by 167 percent; robbery, 168 percent; vehicle theft, 125 percent; and arson, 43 percent.

At the same time, the statistics showed that aggravated assault, burglary and larceny were down, with forcible rape down at least 50 percent, he said.

However, Celli said he thinks the reduction in some of those serious crimes actually is a statistical issue that could be a direct result of Proposition 47, which reduced some felony crimes to misdemeanors. “So the crime, I believe is still occurring, it's just reclassified,” he said.

While the homicide statistics for 2015 were reported to be up by 167 percent, Celli said in actuality there were a total of five cases that year, up by two cases – one of them a double homicide – over the previous year. Three of the 2015 homicides are believed to be directly related to marijuana.

He said traffic enforcement is a vital function of the police department, reducing serious vehicle crashes and also offering a deterrent to crime.

Of the citations issued in 2015, Celli said 74 percent were for moving violations (with most of those for driving on a suspended license), 22 percent were for infractions (such as fix it tickets) and four percent for parking violations, including parking in a handicapped space.

Looking ahead, Celli said the department wants to make a number of improvements. Priorities are reducing crime and calls for service, hiring and retaining employees, increasing service to the community and improving customer service.

“So in January, we go to work,” he said.

Since then, they've hired another officer and are now at full staffing among sworn officers, are looking at how to use grants and other sources to increase budgeted positions, have hired a new dispatcher and are looking for ways to hire more, Celli said.

While money is important, is isn't everything, Celli said, and so the department is looking at ways to improve it working environment to retain employees, which includes empowering them and encouraging fresh ideas. He said they're also pursuing more training, which is easier now thanks to be at full staff, and improving communication within the department.

In an effort to create efficiencies, Celli said the department is looking at a transcription product to help officers more quickly complete reports. One officer noted it reduced a normally 10-hour report to two hours.

Celli said the department also has created a traffic unit for high visibility enforcement, enhanced the homeless liaison program by adding an officer and a supervisor, enhanced its gang officer program by adding an officer, implemented procedures to enforce new municipal codes the city council recently passed, is working to development new municipal codes to address public safety problems and concerns, and assigned a marijuana liaison officer to work with code enforcement when needed and keep up with the changing laws.

He said they are continually looking for ways to identify high crime areas and use different methods of crime reduction, and are developing plans to increase special enforcement.

One of the special enforcement areas is marijuana, with Celli showing a picture of a large marijuana grow in the city. “Our goal, obviously, is we want less of this.”

When it goes above and beyond medical marijuana grows and impacts neighbors, “That's enough,” he said.

Celli said other efforts include customer service, with officers encouraged to meet with business owners and the public to enhance problem solving policing; improving communications capabilities, which has included implementing the Nixle alert system; making visual improvements through adding plants and pictures to the police department lobby, which he said was reported to not be welcoming; and updating the phone system with music instead of dead air when callers are put on hold.

He said they're utilizing a drought relief worker provided by the state to scan reports and greet people at the window. “It's essentially free labor for the city.”

The department's dispatch center is very busy, receiving an estimated 27 calls per hour, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, he said.

Another initiative is the reestablishment of the police explorer program. “That's where I came from. I was a police explorer,” Celli said.

Explaining the importance of a number of key goals – encouraging employees to be helpful, treating others as they want to be treated, attending public meetings, encouraging more information sharing internally and externally, and exploring ways to enhance service, Celli said, “All of these things lead to trust. We need to continue to build and maintain the public trust. We cannot do our job effectively without it.”

To sum up the importance of that trust, Celli used each letter of the word to outline the following goals:

– Truth;
– Respect;
– Understanding;
– Stability;
– Transparency.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.