The Lakeport Police Department was one of 7,200 law enforcement agencies nationwide to apply for a COPS Hiring Recovery Program grant, which is part of the American Recovery and Investment Act of 2009.
Lakeport Police was among about 1,000 agencies that received the grant, Kevin Burke, the city's police chief and interim city manager, told the council on Tuesday.
The grant, for $241,237, will fully fund one police officer position for three years, said Burke. However, the city must agree to retain that police officer position for an additional fourth year after the grant ends.
The Lakeport Police Department had a total of 14 sworn officer positions until the 2008-09 budget year, when two of the positions – which were unfilled – were frozen and eventually lost. Burke said the grant will help the police department raise its count of sworn officers from 12 to 13.
As part of the request, Burke asked the council to grant an exemption from the city's current hiring freeze in order to hiring the new officer's position.
City Councilman Roy Parmentier said he didn't have a problem with it, but wanted to see a code enforcement officer hired. Burke said he didn't think the grant could be used for that purpose.
Councilman Jim Irwin, sitting in for Mayor Ron Bertsch, brought into the discussion a question about the school resource officer position, which the Lakeport Unified School District is paying pay for in order to restore it. He asked if it was possible to use a current officer to cover that part-time assignment.
Burke said the agreement wouldn't pay for a full police officer position. Councilman Bob Rumfelt added that it would take a current officer off a normal beat.
Burke said the person being assigned to the school resource officer beat will be the department's first female “gun-toting officer,” a retired part-timer currently going through background tests.
Irwin was concerned about covering the fourth year of the police officer's position, and “pushing the buck down the road.”
“We're barely cuttin' it paying for 12 guys,” he said.
Irwin said the council already is “stealing” – then he amended his statement to say “taking” – money from Measure I funds to cover basic city services.
Burke said they're reading to hire the school resource officer now, and if they waited to use the grant for that purpose they would miss half the school year, as the new grant-funded officer position is expected to be hired around January.
Council member Suzanne Lyons said she supported accepting the grant, because over the life of the grant the city would get a police officer with benefits for under $20,000 a year.
“It seems like a wonderful deal,” she said.
Rumfelt suggested that, in three years, one of the department's officers may be ready to retire, so they can shuffle the new officer into a budgeted position.
Burke confirmed that they will have some officers at retirement age by that time.
He suggested accepting the grant had a “calculated risk” to it.
Rumfelt moved to accept the grant and Lyons seconded.
Irwin asked what happens to the grant if next year the city is in more serious financial straights and has to look at laying off an officer. Burke said it would be the newer officer that would be subject to lay off, and the city would apply the grant to the existing police force.
However, he warned that the federal grant has clear anti-supplanting requirements, and the city would have to show a fiscal emergency in order to make those changes to the conditions of the grant.
The council voted to accept th grant 4-0.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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