Cops/Law enforcement

Bishop looks for new police chief

The City of Bishop announced on Sept. 29 that it is looking for a new police chief. In the same press release, the city said it is looking for an outside investigator to research the allegations of no confidence in retiring Police Chief Chris Carter by seven officers of the Bishop Police Department.

While the chief announced his Sept. 30 retirement date in June, officers waited until Sept. 16 to publish their letter of no confidence.

Carter responded on Sept. 20 stating that the timing of the letter shows that it is just a smear campaign with nothing for the disgruntled officers to gain given Carter’s short time left as chief. Carter retired Wednesday after 31 years in law enforcement, his last five as Bishop Chief.

In a statement, the city said, “Upon completion, any and all information resulting from the investigation and not subject to rules of confidentiality will be made available to the public.”

Bishop City Administrator Jim Tatum told The Sheet that he will have no part in choosing an investigator because the letter by the officers also accuses him of improprieties. He said the Bishop City Council will be handling the search for an investigator.

Ralph Andersen and Associates, a head hunting firm, will conduct the search for a new chief and bring the council a list of candidates. The process is expected to take 4 to 5 months.

Carter has agreed to stay on as “retired annuitant” until a replacement can be found.

The disgruntled cops don’t want Carter to have anything to do with selection of a new chief.

The Sept. 16 letter states that given Carter’s past record of promotion and recruitment, he “has demonstrated his judgment of character is at the very least questionable, and therefore should not be involved in any way in the selection of a new Chief.”

Carter does not respond to this allegation directly in his response, but states that he will continue to serve at the behest of the council.

Andersen was hired by the city Aug. 31 and will have former Police Chief Greg Nelson of Illinois, now in Reno, head up the search. Andersen will charge the city $24,400 to find a replacement.

There’s no price tag given for the investigation into the allegations brought by the officers. The Inyo County District Attorney will step in to file charges if criminal wrongdoing alleged in the letter is supported.

 

Help kids stay out of jail 

There will soon be money available for folks who want to help kids get out and stay out of jail.

Mono County Probation Department is going to ask the state’s Community Recidivism and Crime Reduction Services Grant program for $5,000. That money will be made available to community members or groups wanting to help troubled kids or keep them out of trouble. The grants would go to help with truancy prevention, group counseling, job training, academic tutoring or mentoring and homelessness prevention, for example.

These kinds of programs are prevalent in larger metropolitan areas, said Mono County Chief Probation Officer Karin Humiston, but there are not so many available in smaller communities. The Mono Council for the Arts and the Town of Mammoth Lakes offer summer programs for kids, but more programs would mean more support and maybe less juvenile offenders.

Those interested in supporting this initiative should contact the Mono County Probation Department for a request for proposals (RFP) for the grant money. She suggested people read over the RFP very carefully and note the many details and fine print of the very long document, to be careful the group meets all the requirements. Some of the requirements ask for annual progress reports, but there’s not money available to continue a program through this grant process.

Humiston said this could be the last year the state approves this funding, or legislators could decide the program works and put more money into it. If a local organization is successful and can lobby well, it may be able to make a pitch for more funding from the state to keep an individual program going.

The recidivism rate for juveniles in Mono County is negligible, Humiston said, very small numbers. She said there’s nothing magical in getting to those low numbers, but there is magic from the small, close-knit community that can identify a problem, or problem child or family and offer assistance.

Adult recidivism rates in Mono are also low. The numbers are so low, the county receives the most money per capita for recidivism programs in the state.