Tuesday, Aug. 9, 2011 • Grand Jury finds personal time spent writing grants for law enforcement agency

Publisher’s note: This story originally appeared in the Tuesday, Aug. 9, 2011 edition of the Lassen County Times.

After determining the Lassen County Sheriff spends a  considerable amount of time writing grants to obtain money, the Lassen County Grand Jury has recommended the county hire a grant writer.

The grand jury made its recommendation for both the Lassen County Sheriff’s Office and the Lassen County Jail.

“All departments throughout the county would be able to benefit from someone who specializes in this field of expertise and leaving county officials time to be exclusively available for the needs of our community,” the grand jury report said.

For both the jail and the sheriff’s office,  the grand jury reported Lassen County Sheriff Dean Growdon spent a considerable amount of his personal time writing grants in an effort to acquire funding to meet the needs of both agencies.

“The majority of these grants sought are used to make up for shortcomings not being met by Lassen County’s budgeted funding,” the report said.

The grand jury report also said that in these tough economic times it is understandable that funding is becoming more difficult to acquire and that all parties receiving funding through the state and local authorities are feeling the constraints placed upon them.

“The LCGJ does feel that the minimum needs for minimum operations for our public safety personnel should be met by the primary funding source rather than through grants that may become unavailable or fail to be awarded to our community as needed,” the report said.

He said the LCSO does have an extensive use of grants, some of which were granted a few years ago and require on-going maintenance.

Grants help fund expanded drug enforcement, help monitor sex crimes and sex offenders, the boating program and reimbursing the costs of bullet proof vests, which Growdon said cost $850 each.

This year, Growdon said the LCSO received an off-highway vehicle grant to help with community education and to purchase equipment to patrol off-highway areas. The LCSO has also received money from Homeland Security grants which will purchase radios for dispatch, the Susanville Police Department, Search and Rescue and mountaintop repeaters.

Growdon said it would be nice to have a grant writer to help meet the needs within the county.

“But in tight times it’s hard to expand staffing anywhere,” he said.

According to the report, the grand jury looked into the LCSO due to public interest.

In its report, the grand jury said the sheriff coroner is responsible for prevention, detection and investigation of crimes in the unincorporated areas of the county, and is required to serve all state mandated writs, warrants and other notices issued by the court which include court fee waivers.

According to the report, LCSO staff attends all superior and municipal courts in the county. Officers are required to obey the lawful orders and direction of the courts and are responsible for the transportation of those in custody at the jail to and from court.

The grand jury commended the efforts of  Growdon and Undersheriff John Mineau, the department’s dedicated correctional peace officers, deputy sheriffs and those of the non-sworn employees the LCSO in being able to continue to meet the needs of this county’s citizens.

Lassen County Jail
The grand jury toured the Lassen County Jail as mandated by California Penal Code 919(b), which mandates the grand jury to “inquire into the condition and management of all detention facilities within their county.”

As part of its inquiry, the grand jury toured the jail with Growdon and Mineau.

It found regular maintenance continues to be a difficult task for the jail as funding allocations are often diverted into more pressing matters such as other issues posing a significant risk to safety or security.

The grand jury commended Mineau and Growdon for an “exemplary job of maintaining and adapting to the ever-changing pressures and regulations thrown on the department.”

The jail is located on Sheriff Cady Lane next door to the Lassen County Sheriff’s Office.