El Dorado County Grand Jury • 2019-2020 • Agency Response

Via Email July 14, 2020 Honorable Suzanne N. Kingsbury Presiding Judge of the El Dorado County Superior Court

Published: July 14, 2020 6 pages
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Note: Missing finding numbers detected: F2, F3, F4, F5, F6, F7

Findings and Recommendations 2 findings

F1 Page 2
The South Lake Tahoe Police Department Facility is inadequate for modern police operations and requires funding for extensive renovation or replacement. City Council Response: The City disagrees partially with the finding. The City agrees that the police station was inadequate for modern police operations prior to the major renovation project currently underway, but notes that this project will resolve the highest priority concerns including lobby hardening, asbestos removal, and restroom accessibility. The City is spending $816,000 on the construction contract for this renovation project and committing additional Public Works Department resources to expand the scope of the renovation. The City agrees that long-term, funding for a new police station is desirable and has begun the planning process to locate a new City government facility including a new police station as described below.
Related Recommendations (1)
R1
Page 2
The City should have a professional space and facility needs study completed with cost estimates for a new or renovated police facility. City Council Response: This recommendation has not been implemented but will be implemented by July 2021. On January 14, 2020, the City Council adopted Resolution No. 2020-006 Outlining Proposed Terms for a New Agreement Between El Dorado County and the City of South Lake Tahoe for the Development, Operation, and Maintenance of Recreation and Government Facilities on the “56-Acres.” That resolution includes terms for an agreement to develop and use the El Dorado County-owned property centrally located within the City for purposes including “a new City government / Police Station facility generally located along US 50 on the southern edge of the ‘56-Acres’ in the future.” The El Dorado County Board of Supervisors adopted a similar resolution the same day. Since then, City staff have issued a Request for Qualifications for firms to update the 56-Acres Master Plan to incorporate the recreation and government facilities set forth in Resolution No. 2020-006. The City awarded the contract to Design Workshop on July 14, 2020. The scope of work for that project will include a high-level needs assessment for the proposed City government facilities including a new police station, to determine how much space is needed for those facilities. Rough cost estimates for a new police station can be generated once the high-level needs assessment is complete. An agreement with El Dorado County will be negotiated based on the terms in Resolution No. 2020-006 and is anticipated to be executed after the 56-Acres Master Plan is complete.
F8 Page 5
While not mandated by POST, the South Lake Tahoe Police Department does not provide its officers with Continuing Professional Training in Crisis Intervention Training. City Council Response: The City disagrees partially with finding. The City agrees that the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) does not mandate Continuing Professional Training in Crisis Intervention Training (CIT), and that not all officers have received Continuing Professional Training on CIT. The City disagrees with the finding that the Police Department does not provide Continual Professional Training on CIT. The Police Department currently has 39 sworn officers. Twenty of the 39 sworn officers have received after-academy continuing professional CIT-related training ranging from 4 to 56 hours per officer, averaging 15.4 hours per officer receiving training and 8 hours per officer overall. Also, nine of the remaining 19 officers who have not received after-academy CIT training graduated from a California Basic Police Academy within the past 2.5 years (2018-2019), where they would have received CIT training. A table listing the academy and post-academy CIT training each officer has received was sent to the Grand Jury via email on February 20, 2020. It is unknown whether that information was considered in the Grand Jury’s investigation, but it appears it was not, as the Grand Jury Report states on pages 1 and 3, that “South Lake Tahoe provided no documentation to the Grand Jury to support the premise they provided their officers with Continuing Professional Crisis Intervention Training.”
No recommendations for this finding

Additional Recommendations 5

These recommendations are not explicitly linked to specific findings.