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Lancaster police chief outlines hires, school resource officer program, substation and DUI grants
Summary
The Lancaster Police Department reported three officers sworn in, plans for additional motor officers, a school resource officer (SRO) program with Westside Union School District, a new boulevard substation, expanded homeless outreach teams and new DUI education and enforcement grants.
A Lancaster Police Department representative (Chief, Lancaster Police Department) briefed the Lancaster Criminal Justice Commission on department staffing, school resource officers, a new substation and grants for DUI enforcement.
The chief said three officers were sworn in recently, including the department's first female hire described by the chief as a veteran field training officer and regional SWAT negotiator. The department has two officers slated for motorcycle (motor) assignments already hired, with a third in background processing and additional motor candidates in interviews.
On school safety, the chief announced that Lancaster will place a school resource officer program into the Westside Union School District under a joint arrangement; the district will fund officers for the school year and the city will cover remaining time, and the department will provide two officers (a male and a female) primarily assigned to middle schools.
The chief said the department is opening a boulevard substation near a local restaurant (identified in the meeting as Sassy Bird) and is staffing it with officers during daytime hours and as needed during events. He also said the department now has three homeless outreach teams with expanded weekend and evening coverage and that the annual homeless count was scheduled for Thursday (the week of the meeting).
On traffic and DUI enforcement, the chief told commissioners the department received a CHP education grant (stated by the chief as about $14,345,000 for education) and an enforcement grant of approximately $400,000 that will fund checkpoints, a trailer and other equipment; the enforcement grant will also fund training for drug recognition experts and allow for multiple DUI checkpoints during the grant period.
The chief said the department has reconnected CCW (concealed carry weapon) processing lines with the county sheriff's office, is completing the required router and LEHI (law enforcement information) hookups, and expected to resume application processing within days of the briefing. He said the department had already processed and queued roughly 100–200 CCW applications pending the final technical step.
Commissioners and the chief also discussed problem rental properties and property owners who allegedly permit recurring criminal activity. The chief said the department is working with the city's legal team to bring chronic problem properties before the city council and explore sanctions, including financial penalties and other remedies aimed at encouraging property owners to control illegal activity on their sites.
