Clearlake police outline grand-jury responses, MOU provides one full-time SRO for 2023–24

Clearlake — The Clearlake Police Department presented its formal responses to two 2022–23 grand-jury reports on Sept. 7 and council approved the department’s responses.

The chief summarized the department’s review of the reports on human trafficking and school shootings. Regarding trafficking, staff said the department provides annual human-trafficking training and, when resources permit, sends officers to advanced training. The department agreed with most findings and said it partially disagreed with one assertion that trafficking cases always require multi-jurisdictional involvement, noting that while cross-jurisdictional work is common it is not universal.

On recommendations tied to school shootings, the department said it had already implemented many measures, including including active-shooter response plans that cover athletic events. The chief told council that on July 20 the city entered into a memorandum of understanding with the district to provide one full-time school resource officer (SRO) for the 2023–24 school year; that officer has attended a certified SRO course the week before school started. The chief said the department agreed with most grand-jury findings and has implemented or begun implementing the recommended actions.

Council moved and passed a motion to approve the chief’s responses and direct any follow-up as needed; the motion passed unanimously.

What’s next: The city will continue required follow-up to the grand-jury recommendations and coordinate with the district on SRO deployment and training.