Fort Bragg police: neat, clean, organized'

Ukiah Daily Journal Staff
Updated: 07/06/2009 12:00:04 AM PDT

Editor's note: This is among the last of the wrap-up stories on the 2008-09 Mendocino County Grand Jury, which issued its final reports at the end of June.

Grand jurors conducted a study of the Fort Bragg Police Department, resulting in the release of the grand jury report "Neat, Clean and Organized."

To research operations at the Fort Bragg Police Department, grand jurors looked at police cars and toured other aspects of the department including an evidence room, a holding cell and spoke with employees of FBPD.

The grand jury makes six recommendations in its report on Fort Bragg police. The grand jury says that a bilingual officer is on each shift, continue to provide training to school resource officers before assignment, get funding for a police dog, provide and make mandatory counseling for officers when they have a traumatic experience, continue the acquisition of money for forensics and booking programs and get money for computers and cameras in police cars.

Fort Bragg Police Department employees "consist of the chief, one lieutenant, three sergeants, 12 officers (nine men and three woman), two community service officers and four support staff. This constitutes a full staff. One community service officer position is frozen due to budget restrictions," stated the grand jury.

Officers of the Fort Bragg police department drive their patrol cars home and are required to keep police cars clean while the public works department of the city does maintenance work.

FBPD, like the Sheriff's Office's coast station, does not have a "K-9" dog trained to sniff for drugs. The grand jury states that a money shortage is to blame for the absence of a police dog.

FBPD does not publish an annual report of crime in Fort Bragg, but they are developing s police cadet program for boys, girls, men and women age 16 to 20, the grand jury stated.

Like the Fort Bragg station of the Sheriff's Office, FBPD sent officers to school for users of a Taser (stun-gun like device) so that they can train others in the department on how to use a Taser.

The grand jury finds that Fort Bragg police are having to deal with animal control calls because FBPD does not have an officer dedicated to animal control, stated the report.

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