Among the items discussed at Monday’s Crescent City Council meeting: Reserve Officer Program: Councilors gave their blessing to a program that will rely on volunteers to boost the Crescent City Police Department’s roster. Police Chief Richard Griffin said two candidates have expressed interest in the program. One is a former CCPD officer who’s looking to maintain her police academy training and police officer status. The other candidate is a former corrections officer who wants to help out with the police department’s negotiations team, Griffin said. The Council’s unanimous approval of an ordinance creating the reserve officer program will allow volunteers to be 24-hour peace officers depending on their level of expertise, the police chief said. They would be available to cover a shift when a career officer calls out sick and could fill in during an emergency. Their primary duties could also include helping out with traffic enforcement during major events like the Fourth of July celebration, acting as a public information officer, Griffin said. “These are volunteers. We wouldn’t be paying them wages, but the minimum they would have to serve would be 16 hours to stay compliant with POST. You’re looking at just under 200 hours if they do the minimum,” he told the City Council. “With one officer, she’s already volunteering with me doing National Night Out.” Griffin said he plans to limit the program to two reserve officers currently. According to the police chief, reserve officers fall into three classifications defined by the California Penal Code. A Level III reserve police officer requires supervision by a Level I reserve police officer or a full-time officer. Their duties are limited to traffic control, security at parades and sporting events, taking reports, transporting evidence, parking enforcement and other duties “not likely to result in physical arrests.” A Level II reserve police officer has completed the POST’s basic training course for police officers and is assigned to general law enforcement. A Level I reserve officer can be on patrol and do some investigative work on their own and have full arrest powers, Griffin said. Griffin said the former CCPD officer looking to return to the force as a reserve officer would be a Level 1. The cost of the program would be up to $9,050 in one-time costs for uniforms and duty gear, psychological examinations, credit checks, fingerprinting, background checks and a cellphone. The program would also require a total of $3,955 in annual costs for cell phone service, city email and software licenses and workers compensation coverage, according to the city’s staff report. The Crescent City Council at its June 7 meeting also approved the addition of two new body cameras and Tasers for the reserve officers, Griffin said. On Monday, Griffin told councilors that he’s also in the process of creating a community service officer position. This would be a uniformed position, though the officer wouldn’t be a sworn peace officer and wouldn’t be carrying a firearm. He said they would be focusing on code enforcement and animal control. “What my vision would be is if we go forward with the community service officer, they could start at age 18 to 21 and they’re filling the void while getting experience,” he said. Annual Job Vacancy Report: Crescent City has recently filled six vacant full-time positions, City Attorney Martha Rice told councilors as part of an annual vacancy report required by the State of California. This is a new requirement for public agencies under Assembly Bill 2561, which went into effect Jan. 1, Rice said. The city attorney said that her staff had chosen May 1, 2025 “as the date we were going to report on” when the city had seven full-time vacant positions and seven part-time vacant positions. Two part-time vacant positions have also been filled and candidates for two part time lifeguard positions are undergoing background checks, Rice told councilors. Of the positions that continue to be vacant, one is a full-time human resources manager. Crescent City had been working with MobileHRnowLLC since the previous manager left in 2023. Rice said the city is waiting on the outcome of a compensation study before advertising for the position again. Crescent City has also decided not to seek a part-time public records specialist for the police department, a part-time economic development and recreation assistant and a part-time public works office technician. According to City Manager Eric Wier, the report is intended to inform the Council if there is a habitual problem within a department such as if there were a 40 percent vacancy rate among police officers. Military Equipment Use Policy: The Crescent City Council approved its police department’s military equipment use policy for the third and final time this year. Under state law, military equipment include unmanned aerial or ground vehicles, armored vehicles, command and control vehicles, pepper balls, flashbangs and less lethal projectile launchers. According to Rice, changes from last year’s policy include the addition of three rifles and three pepperball guns to CCPD’s military equipment list otherwise it remains the same.