LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Lakeport City Council on Tuesday night voted unanimously to accept a federal grant to assist the Lakeport Police Department in providing an officer to work specifically with the business community and Neighborhood Watch groups.

Lakeport Police Chief Brad Rasmussen asked the council to receive the Community Oriented Policing – or COPS – grant from the United States Department of Justice Office of Community Oriented Policing, which his agency was awarded earlier this month.

Rasmussen said that Lakeport was the only city in Northern California to receive a COPS grant, one of only 11 cities statewide and 483 cities nationwide.

The Lakeport Police Department has received three previous COPS grants over the past 20 years, Rasmussen said. Previously, the grants provided 100-percent funding for an officer position, but over the last six years the funding has been cut back so that the grant now pays 75 percent of salary and benefits.

The grant application process also has become far more competitive. Rasmussen said his department has applied unsuccessfully three times for funding for a school resource officer position.

With the Lakeport Unified School District agreeing to fund most of a new school resource officer position, Rasmussen said he and his staff decided to switch course and instead apply for a community liaison officer, which would help maintain a 12th officer position that the council approved through the end of the current fiscal year.

The police department first presented the idea for the new community liaison officer positions during a public safety town hall meeting in April and received considerable support for the idea, according to Rasmussen.

Starting on July 1, 2017, the officer will be assigned to work with business and community groups – including Neighborhood Watch – to help develop plans to reduce nuisance crime in business areas and neighborhoods, Rasmussen said.

Rasmussen said the community liaison officer also would provide training to the groups, and attend meetings of organizations like the Lakeport Main Street Association and the Lake County Chamber of Commerce.

“We were fortunate to get support from a lot of community groups,” for the application, he said, including the chamber, the Lakeport Main Street Association, Workforce Lake and Lake County Probation, plus a letter of support from Congressman Mike Thompson.

The city will receive $115,000 over three years from the grant, and must provide about $40,000 annually to pay the balance of salary and benefits, plus commit to funding 100-percent of salary and benefits for a fourth year, Rasmussen.

Rasmussen said that the city will need $235,000 to meet the grant's match requirements over the four-year period.

While the grant amount is not huge, it will provide an opportunity to offer a program that the Lakeport Police Department has never been able to offer previously, Rasmussen said.

Both Rasmussen and City Manager Margaret Silveira said they will need to look closely at the budget for the upcoming 2017-18 fiscal year to find the funding to cover the grant match. The budget process will begin early in the spring.

Although it will be a challenge to find the money, Councilwoman Stacey Mattina said the city has to do it. “It's such a great opportunity.”

Councilman Martin Scheel said it was important for the city to be proactive, not reactive. He pointed out that the city's National Night Out event in August was the biggest the city has had, with a lot of engagement.

He said Mayor Marc Spillman has worked to create Neighborhood Watch groups in the city limits, and Spillman added that he has guaranteed Rasmussen that he would stay on and help with those groups after he leaves the council in December.

During public comment, Michael Froio, who lives at the north end of town on Beach Court, said he and his neighbors are forming a Neighborhood Watch.

He said he's frustrated about the conditions in his area, where drug sales are taking place and there are issues with a nearby trailer park.

Rasmussen, who by that point had a Wednesday meeting scheduled with Froio, said he has not had enough staffing to dedicate an officer to specific neighborhoods. The new position, he said, would work with Neighborhood Watch groups to address their particular issues.

During his comments, Froio also reported a homeless camp off of Lakeshore Boulevard and said a naked girl wrapped in a blanket had been dropped out of a car on his street.

Mattina asked if he was calling police about those problems. Froio asked what he should call in. She replied that he can't assume that the police know those things are happening. Froio said he calls police frequently.

Jeanette Payan, one of Froio's neighbors, said she's experienced and documented everything Froio described. She said she would love to see the city more safe.

Payan said the only way to fix the problem was to work together.

Wilda Shock, chair of the Lakeport Economic Development Committee, said the committee wrote a letter of support to the government for the grant, and urged the council to receive it.

Councilman Kenny Parlet said he was embarrassed to hear that conditions like those described by Froio and Payan existed in north Lakeport.

“I'm shocked to hear what I've heard today,” he said.

He added that if people live next to “a den of wretched scum and villainy” and don't report it, the city can't do anything to address it.

Councilwoman Mireya Turner moved to accept the grant, which the council approved 5-0 to a round of applause from the audience.

Rasmussen said he has a short window of time to let the Department of Justice know that Lakeport Police will accept the grant.

The council did not make accepting the grant contingent on passage of Measure Z, a one-cent sales tax on the November ballot that's meant to fund road repairs and public safety services.

In a followup interview with Rasmussen on Wednesday regarding the problems reported by Froio, Rasmussen told Lake County News that police had been aware of the narcotics issues in Froio's neighborhood, but did not know of the homeless camp or some of the other matters.

He said he and Froio met earlier that day as scheduled. “I think there are some legitimate crime concerns in that area,” he said.

Regarding the transient camp off of Lakeshore Boulevard near Terrace Beach, on Wednesday morning officers went down to the camp and found a few tents, a fire pit and about four or five people camped there below the high water mark, which is giving rise to environmental issues, Rasmussen said.

He said the camp inhabitants have been transients for some time, and his agency has dealt with them before.

Police gave the group until Monday to remove all of their belongings and restore the area. “We're trying to work with these folks,” said Rasmussen, noting that normally police give 48 hours in such cases.

Rasmussen said if they don't leave, the individuals could be charged or face administrative citations for illegal camping.

If the area isn't cleaned up, police and Lakeport Public Works crews will have to do it, and any personal belongings will be stored for up to 90 days, Rasmussen said.

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.