A look at the South Lake Tahoe Police Department

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - Law enforcement has come a long way in South Lake Tahoe since the first police department started on July 1, 1967. At that time there were 30 sworn male officers who were chosen from a list of more than 400 applicants who wanted to be part of the first police department for the new city. They were tested in Seal Beach, Roseville, and South Lake Tahoe then interviewed in Los Angeles and Sacramento. One chief, nine sergeants, and 20 patrolmen became the new police force and they were headquartered in the back of what is now Nel's Hardware (the front was a bar and pool hall).

The budget for that first department was $360,000, which included $275,725 for salaries and $47,780 for equipment including six shotguns and two bullhorns. Today that figure is closer to $11.2 million with over $10 million for salaries, benefits, and current and past retirement obligations. Their core team budget includes administration, operations (including school resource officers, marine unit, special event planning, field training, SWAT, and K-9), dispatch, and a new cannabis operation team.

Today, there are 39 sworn officers, 36 men and three women, and their office is located in the complex with El Dorado County at the corner of Johnson and Al Tahoe Boulevards.

In the 1960 census, there were 16,207 residents in the whole county and by 1970 there were 12,921 people living in South Lake Tahoe. The estimated population of the City at this time is about 23,000. As always, in both 1960 and today, those numbers inflate dramatically due to weekend getaways, summer vacations, holidays, festivals, concerts, and ski weekends.

With recent mass protests about the deaths of black men at the hands of police in the United States and a call for defunding, we took a look into the operations of the South Lake Tahoe Police Department (SLTPD).

The City of South Lake Tahoe has scheduled a community Town Hall on policing on June 22.

Part of current discussions is the formation of community groups to be part of policy review, incidents, oversight, discipline, and the hiring of a new police chief.

"I look forward to the conversation of having a community group, a lot of laws are already in place that protect the public and officers," said Interim Police Chief David Stevenson.

Some citizens have also said they want to be involved with the hiring of the new police chief. At this time, Stevenson and Lt. Shannon Laney are sharing the duties of the office that has been vacant since Chief Brian Uhler retired from police work in March 2020. The City has opened the position for outside applicants. Both Stevenson and Laney are both applying for the job. A committee is currently being formed of local residents to be part of the interview panel in July.

California is at the forefront of law enforcement policies and procedures, Stevenson said. The Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) was established by the California Legislature in 1959 to set minimum selection and training standards for California law enforcement. Not all agencies are required to be part of POST but South Lake Tahoe is one of over 600 participating groups.

Hiring Process

There are POST-regulated hiring practices which include extensive background checks - looking into their personal history, checks of residence and neighbor interviews, financial history, social media activity, criminal background, and a lie detector test. POST has an extensive and significant psychological exam with a POST-certified psychologist who spends a day with them. One of the exam components exposes candidate racism.

It takes a minimum of three months to hire a new officer, but it is more like four-to-six months according to Stevenson. There is first the interview, then a thorough background investigation. Their background hiring processes are audited to make sure all procedures are followed and they are complete. Once the lie detector test comes back favorably, SLTPD will give the candidate a conditional job offer pending the results of the psychological test, and a medical test.

If all works out and investigations are complete, the person is hired.

If the new hire is already a peace officer, or in the police academy, their certification processes have already been completed. If they are entry-level the City of South Lake Tahoe will send them through the academy. They pay them a salary and pay for a place for them to live in Sacramento for the duration of the academy.

Training

Once the new recruit is hired it takes about one year before they are on the street by themselves. After the six-month-long academy they are put into the SLTPD Field Training Officer (FTO) program. Here they train in-house with three trainers on four sections for about 15 weeks. This subject matter and training are all standardized through POST.

By the time an officer is in a patrol car, they have undergone months of background checks, testing, and training.

"If one slips through the cracks there is still an 18-month probationary period that starts the minute they are sworn in," said Stevenson. "They are evaluated daily and through that process, if something isn't working, we can let them go."

Stevenson said the typical reason someone is let go in the probationary period has to do with communication and decision-making skills in the field.

"High-stress moments prevent them from making a decision and lead to public and officer safety issues," said of the reason they don't make it.

Eighty-percent of applicants do not make it through the background process and at least one out of every ten of entry-level officers don’t pass through FTO.

Training never stops at SLTPD, Stevenson said. There is ongoing POST-regulated training, and it costs about $100,000 to send officers to the POST training sessions annually, $50,000 which is reimbursable. POST requires 24 hours of training every two years.

They also have training as an agency, either suggested or required through their own policy manual.

Stevenson said there is always room for improvement and there is no national cookie-cutter solution for departments and training. He said they are constantly monitoring best practices, federal law, and legislative changes. "We are ahead of the game there as well," he added.

"We can always strive to be better and evaluate policies and procedures," Stevenson said.

Going Forward

When asked how the department's morale is after the riots and demonstrations against the police, Stevenson said overall they are doing well.

"They are proud of what they do and the mission they do," said Stevenson. "They know how they operate and how SLTPD operates and they know this is not a racist department."

Officers in all agencies are not just law enforcement. They are also counselors, leaders, social workers, teachers, and mentors. In South Lake Tahoe you will see them reading during Storytime at the library, working with youth in sports, working as homeless outreach teams, and a plethora of other titles.

MRAP

Some of the complaints at local rallies has been the fact that the City owns an MRAP (Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected) vehicle. They were given to police departments around the county as left-over surplus and are not mounted with weapons. In South Lake Tahoe it is used as a means of protection when going into high-risk missions.

Stevenson said he used to have to hide behind snowbanks and the MRAP gives them much more protection. He said most people are good, of course, but there are some who have moments of crisis, while others are evil and mean people. It is that last group that uses a lot of resources no matter where they live.

Contract

Another comment at local protests has been to ask the City to not renew the SLTPD contract in the fall. The police department is city-run and staff are city-staff so there is no contract. Many are thinking the renewal of the police union contract was for the whole department, but it is with the union.

The City of South Lake Tahoe will hold that virtual town hall to discuss the efforts of the police department locally on Monday, June 22, 2020, from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.

“It’s important for our City and Community to come together to have a frank conversation about ways we can continuously improve the services offered by our police department,” said City Manager Joe Irvin, “We are excited to have the police and the public join in the conversation and talk about what’s working and what can be improved in South Lake Tahoe.”