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Crescent City Councilors on Monday gave their blessing to a police academy sponsorship program the city’s police chief hopes will solve a recruitment challenge.

Crescent City Police Chief Richard Griffin said sponsoring new recruits through the College of the Redwoods Police Academy in Eureka would allow his department to recruit applicants new to law enforcement and those who need California Police Officer Standards of Training certification to continue in their career.

He told Councilors he envisions hiring candidates for the sponsorship program about two months before the academy starts.

“That would give us the opportunity to get them into the police department and get them started training on defensive tactics, firearms, backgrounds — all that stuff that needs to be done first and give them that opportunity to really succeed at a high level in the academy,” Griffin said.

There are currently two vacant positions in the police department, including one paid for through Measure S tax dollars, according to Griffin. A third position, also paid for with Measure S dollars, will open in July, he said.

Under the proposed sponsorship program, the city would pay the fees and tuition associated with the academy — about $4,383 for the 23-week program — as well as housing and food costs — roughly $5,310 if the officer is staying on campus and eating in the cafeteria, according to the police chief.

A new recruit would also be paid $18.02 an hour plus benefits when they’re hired, roughly two months before starting the academy, and while they were attending the academy, according to the city’s staff report.

Before a candidate is hired, they must sign an agreement with the city promising to pay back the cost of attending the academy, not including their wages and benefits. If they work with CCPD for five years, no repayment would be required, according to City Attorney Martha Rice.

“The way we have forgiveness lined out is it’s forgiven 20 percent each year over five years,” she said. “If (the officer) quits after serving one year, they’re legally obligated to pay us back 80 percent of whatever we pay out. If it was $10,000, they’d owe the city $8,000.”

Once they graduate, the applicant must complete a 14-week field training program through CCPD, according to Griffin.

There are currently 15 people at CR’s police academy, CCPD Sgt. Anthony Lopez told the City Council. Four dropped out during the first week and 10 are already sponsored through the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office, Lopez said.

City Manager Eric Wier said the city’s goal is to recruit candidates to start the police academy in July.

According to Griffin, though the city’s sponsorship program focuses on CR, there’s also the possibility of sponsoring new recruits going to the law enforcement academy at Butte College. His goal is to recruit local people into the police department, but, he said, the sponsorship program could attract applicants from Shasta County and elsewhere.

Though he and his colleagues on the City Council were enthusiastic about the proposed sponsorship program, Councilor Beau Smith asked if officers who “don’t cut the mustard” during field training would have to pay the city back for sponsoring them through the academy.

Rice said the way the agreement and the proposed sponsorship program is written, a new recruit would be responsible for paying the city back if they voluntarily left CCPD.

“If they got cut loose during probation, that wouldn’t be voluntarily,” she said. “What if they, you know, got to he academy and start working after a year and just don’t want to be an officer anymore. If they decide, they’re not cut out to be a police officer we don’t want them on the force, that’s a liability for everybody. It would be worth it to let somebody like that go rather than have them stick around and put everybody’s life at risk because they don’t want to pay that increment.”

Griffin noted that even after graduating from the academy, an officer wouldn’t be POST certified until they completed the field training program.

The City Council voted 4-0-1 in favor of the proposed sponsorship program. Crescent City Mayor Jason Greenough was absent.
Lopez, who is president of the Crescent City Police Officers Association, said when Griffin brought the proposed sponsorship program to his attention, he sent out a text to other members of the CCPOA.

“Within five minutes it was a resounding yes to sponsor people through the academy,” he said. “For myself, it was difficult to stop my life for six months, go to the academy and work 12 hours on Saturday and Sunday and start the academy on Monday. Being sponsored is a blessing for people that want to come into this career.”

Griffin added that one of the advantages to urging new recruits to go to the police academy in Eureka is its close proximity allows CCPD’s more seasoned officers to check on them. Griffin said a few of his officers, including Lopez, teach at the academy.

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