LAKEPORT, Calif. – After it was locked out of a shared law enforcement records system two months ago, on Wednesday the Lakeport Police Department was once again able access the system following a judge's order this week that the agency's access was to be temporarily restored.
Lakeport Police Chief Brad Rasmussen said county of Lake Information Technology staff arrived at the police department on Wednesday morning to make sure he and his officers could access the records information management system, or RIMS, as they had been able to do before Sheriff Frank Rivero abruptly cut them off on April 23.
In May, the city of Lakeport filed suit against Rivero and the county of Lake, alleging breach of the long-running dispatch contract for Lakeport Police. The city also successfully moved to have the case moved out of Lake County.
At the case's first hearing on Monday in Mendocino County Superior Court in Ukiah, Judge Cindee Mayfield granted Lakeport Police a temporary restraining order against Rivero, and ordered him and the county to immediately restore Lakeport Police's access to RIMS ahead of a hearing set for Friday, Aug. 9, at which time there will be a hearing for a preliminary injunction.
Rivero faces contempt of court charges if he fails to comply, according to the court order, which Rasmussen called “pretty all-encompassing.”
The order was served on the deputy county counsels representing the county and Rivero on Monday afternoon, with the city receiving proof of service on Tuesday, Rasmussen said.
In a written statement issued by his office on Wednesday, Rivero called the judge's ruling “disappointing” but added, “I believe she could do little else, given the time constraints and the pretext of officer and public safety offered by Lakeport's attorney's. The amount of documentation was extraordinary; she simply did not have the time to review it all and draw conclusions on the merits.”
Rasmussen said it was made clear at the hearing that the purpose was to consider the temporary restraining order application alone, “not to argue the full case.”
He said the case documents were filed on Friday, June 28, with all of the documents given to the county at that point in order to be ready for the Monday hearing.
Rivero said he will comply with Judge Mayfield's order “while personally closely monitoring RIMS access by the Lakeport Police Department during the temporary court ordered re-instatement.”
County Counsel Anita Grant said she received formal notification on Wednesday that Rivero would comply with Judge Mayfield's order.
At the Monday hearing, Deputy County Counsel Shanda Harry represented the county, while Deputy County Counsel Lloyd Guintivano represented Rivero. Grant said her office has set up an ethical wall in order to represent Rivero in the case.
The County Counsel's Office did not provide a written response to Lakeport's filings for the Monday hearing, but rather responded in court with its verbal opposition, Grant said.
She said the county's position is that its dispatch contract with the city of Lakeport doesn't specifically include RIMS, the access to which is accomplished by virtue of an agreement between the law enforcement agencies.
That sharing of information was in effect until one side terminated it, said Grant, who added that the county believes that sharing agreement can be terminated at any time.
Rasmussen said that RIMS is integral to the dispatch contract. Information about Lakeport Police's calls is entered into the system, and without access to their own case information police have been hamstrung, he said.
Despite initially telling Rasmussen that the system lockout was a result of an auditing issue, Rivero – after Rasmussen went public with officer and community safety concerns – alleged abuses by Lakeport Police of the system, using that as his justification for cutting off access.
He has continued to make that allegation despite the District Attorney's Office's conclusion last week that there was no illegal or inappropriate access by Lakeport Police staff.
Rasmussen, who conducted his own internal affairs investigation into the allegations and found them unfounded, said there is nothing improper or illegal about law enforcement personnel accessing information in RIMS in the course of their duties. He said such information is necessary in efficiently carrying out their duties and serving citizens.
Rivero also has challenged Lakeport Police's assertions that community and officer safety were at risk due to the inability to access case information as efficiently and quickly as it has for years prior to having its access cut.
Rivero said he provided a workaround to allow “appropriate access” for Lakeport Police staff, and that they continued to have access to a multiagency RIMS interoperability agreement as well as direct access to offender information through direct radio contact with sheriff's Central Dispatch.
Rasmussen, however, said that workaround was “was completely inefficient to comply with the access that we previously had and we believe had been granted in conjunction with our contract for many, many years.”
With RIMS access being restored, Rasmussen said he and his staff have once again been able to do a number of things that are important to them in pursuing a full range of police services.
At a special Board of Supervisors meeting held on April 26 in response to the RIMS situation, Rivero was asked to restore Lakeport Police's access – which he refused to do – and also had indicated he would ask the California Attorney General's Office to audit RIMS, although the county's administration has received no indication he's done so.
In addition, he was asked to form a task force of stakeholders to discuss setting up rules for access. Rasmussen said he and his agency had hoped that would happen, and had welcomed the opportunity to sit down and work out protocols.
“It's definitely not an all or nothing proposition, because he controls that access and can fine-tune it,” said Rasmussen.
Rasmussen added, “We tried our best to make that happen, however, he never responded or was willing to meet with anybody as was requested by the Board of Supervisors.”
The city then moved forward with its suit against the county.
Grant said her office will be filing an opposition to the preliminary injunction Lakeport is seeking against the county and Rivero.
Rasmussen said he and the city respect the court and are looking forward to having the case decided in August.
Email Elizabeth Larson at [email protected] . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.