Clearlake police report lower response times, higher traffic enforcement and six traffic fatalities in 2023

Chief Hobbs delivered the Clearlake Police Departmentannual report to the City Council on Feb. 1, saying the department handled roughly 21,305 calls for service and about 13,675 officer-initiated incidents in 2023, for a combined caseload of roughly 35,000 incidents.

"Our mission, to enhance public safety by providing professional trustworthy service in partnership with the community," Hobbs said as he outlined the department's statistics, training and outreach. He reported arrests rose by about 88 to roughly 2,100, and department-issued citations totaled about 3,785.

Traffic enforcement increased markedly after added summer staffing, Hobbs said: traffic stops rose to about 4,212, an increase of roughly 1,900 from the prior year. Injury collisions were down slightly to 74, but traffic fatalities increased by two to six for 2023; Hobbs said three of those fatal collisions occurred on a highway and all were pedestrian-vehicle collisions.

Explaining performance metrics, Hobbs said response times are measured from when the dispatcher enters an address into the CAD system to when an officer arrives on scene, and that averages can be skewed by non-emergency priority calls. "The priority 1so let's say, for, like, a stabbing, a assault with a deadly weapon," he said when describing how the system categorizes calls and why raw averages may not reflect in-progress emergencies.

Hobbs also reviewed code-enforcement caseloads (more than 2,200 cases, up roughly 350 year-over-year) and said vegetation complaints had grown significantly to about 1,340 cases, a rise the department attributes to increased effort to mitigate wildfire risk. He reported a roughly 65% voluntary-compliance rate for code cases after notices of violation.

On training and staffing, Hobbs said the department completed about 1,600 POST-approved training hours across 78 courses and nearly 782 non-POST hours. He noted the department conducted active-shooter refreshers and evidence-collection training and called out promotions and awards, including service recognition for longtime employees. Hobbs said Officer Chris Perry was assigned as a full-time school resource officer for the Conoco Unified School District to strengthen school partnerships and free patrol officers from routine school responses.

Council members asked clarifying questions about the location of traffic fatalities and the response-time clock; city manager Andrew Flora and council members thanked Hobbs for reconciling changes in reporting so the statistics would be comparable year to year. Hobbs closed by inviting follow-up questions and offering to meet with members of the public on specific concerns.

The council took no formal action on the report itself; it was received and discussed during the meeting and followed by public comment and other agenda items.