THEY SAID IT…

Published in the May 9 2026 edition.

Mammoth Lakes Police Department (MLPD) Sergeant Jason Heilman gave the following statement to the Mammoth Lakes Town Council Wednesday evening on behalf of the Mammoth Lakes Police Supervisory Association (MLPSA).

Public safety should be the number one priority of any community. 

A community cannot thrive without safe neighborhoods, safe schools, safe events, and without those who victimize others being held accountable for their actions. This is no different for the town of Mammoth Lakes. 

Safety isn’t guaranteed because we live at 8,000 feet in a beautiful mountain town, or because we are far removed from the big city. Instead, safety is a result of a well funded, well staffed, well trained and well equipped police department. 

Unfortunately, the Mammoth Lakes Police Department’s (MLPD) sworn staffing levels are down 35% with no significant relief insight. Currently, the department is funded for 19 sworn positions, but today, we sit at 12 active sworn members. This is a considerable decrease from the department’s height of staffing in 2008, when there were 23 sworn members. 

Our current staffing is even below the 15 sworn members the department started with in 1986. The fact that MLPD is below the sworn staffing numbers from 40 years ago, when the town was much smaller and saw less visitation, should cause serious concern to town council and the public. 

This situation didn’t happen overnight. 16 years ago, then-Chief Dan Watson addressed the issue of inadequate police staffing in a memo provided to town council. In the memo, Chief Watson stated MLPD was minimally staffed with 18 sworn officers. Minimally staffed numbers then are still far above the 12 we currently have. 

If the department was struggling then, it’s absolutely struggling now. 

Here are the facts when compared to the nearest public safety agency, the Mono County Sheriff’s Department. The Sheriff’s Department has 25 officers, and the police department has 12. The sheriff’s department has a sheriff, an undersheriff, two lieutenants, and one administrative sergeant. We have a chief of police. For investigations, the Sheriff’s Department has two detectives, one school resource officer. We have one detective. 

But this is where it differs. The Sheriff’s Department had 621 calls for service year to date, MLPD had 1071. The Sheriff’s Department had 36 arrests, MLPD had 79. The Sheriff’s Department had 204 cases, MLPD had 319. Nearly twice the crime with half the cops. 

MLPD is simply unable to provide adequate police services with our current staffing and structure. The department lacks proper middle management, has only one detective, no school resource officer, no dedicated traffic unit, no animal control, and is unable to provide 24-hour patrol staffing. 

Many shifts, the department is running two officers on patrol. This means when an arrest is made, one officer transports to jail in Bridgeport, and the other officer remains in town and does not respond to calls until their backup returns. Recently, we’ve seen instances where both officers are forced to transport due to a violent and combative arrestee, leaving no officers in town. 

This is unacceptable for the town of Mammoth Lakes, both its residents and visitors. Unacceptable for a town of 7,000 permanent residents, millions of visitors each year, over 30 events a year, with many of them alcohol related. 

A major ski resort, weekly apres ski events, K-12 education, a junior college, an expanding hospital system, growing housing projects, and additional hotels going up. Unacceptable for a town with recent criminal activity that includes attempted murder, domestic violence, grand theft, vehicle theft, robbery, felonious assault, and all sorts of narcotics violations. 

The town has poured millions of dollars into housing, which has generated an increased workload for MLPD and our already insufficient staffing. For example, since January 2025, the Parcel has generated 33 MLPD cases, and the Innsbruck has generated 14 MLPD cases in addition to approximately 100 calls for service. The MLPSA supports the town’s housing initiatives, but council must consider the increased workload this housing has created for public safety. 

The bottom line is, officers are leaving MLPD in numbers not seen since the bankruptcy. 

In the past year, MLPD has lost two to retirement, two to Inyo County, one to Bishop Police Department, one to Mono County, and one who resigned from training. That’s seven officers with over 75 years of combined experience. 

Additionally, MLPSA can say there are currently MLPD officers with applications at other departments awaiting openings. Officers who left to join other departments left because they don’t see things getting better. They see the town’s priorities are trails, housing, arts, and banning plastic water bottles. All while public safety is struggling. 

Additionally, we cannot continue to rely on recruits to replace experienced officers because the department has seen only one successful recruit out of the five we have sent to the academy. If officers continue to leave, the already limited patrol coverage could drop down to one shift, where the town only sees police coverage from noon to midnight. 

The town may lose our one detective to patrol, and cases won’t be properly investigated. Losing experienced officers means there won’t be anyone to train new recruits, who graduate from the academy and enter the field training program. This is the harsh reality and a real possibility. 

The MLPSA is not here to cast blame, but we are requesting town council make fixing this situation a priority before it’s too late, and we are past the point of recovery.