FORT BRAGG POLICE DEPARTMENT
ANNUAL
REPORT
2023
TABLE OF CONTENTS
01 Message from Chief Cervenka
02 Organizational Chart
03 The Numbers—2023
04 Five Year Comparisons
06 Records and Evidence
07 Patrol Division
08 Care Response Unit (CRU)
09 Project Right Now (PRN)
10 Special Investigations
11 Code Enforcement
12 Community Involvement
13 Social media
14 Electric Patrol Vehicles
15 2023 Awards
MESSAGE FROM
THE CHIEF
This was an amazing year for Fort Bragg Police Department. The team of professionals came together on many fronts. Change is always challenging and comes with several opportunities to learn and grow.
Fort Bragg PD became an industry leader in the transition to Electric Vehicle (EV) patrol cars. While many agencies are testing the viability of using EV’s as patrol cars, Fort Bragg stepped to the front and became one of the first in the nation to fully deploy them as standard. The transition to EV will save the local taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars over the course of their use. Fort Bragg PD was able to prove this was a realistic solution for patrol vehicles and is providing data to other police agencies from coast to coast as they begin to transition to EV.
Fort Bragg PD is also setting the nation’s standard with homeless engagement and substance use disorders through our innovative Care Response Unit and Project Right Now. The statistics prove the programs work and are not only changing lives, but saving lives as well.
The programs are so unique, researchers from UCLA and much larger police departments from across the state are contacting us for a blueprint to begin similar programs.
Our patrol staff suffered through low staffing for much of 2023 without complaint. Despite this, the service they provided was second-to-none. Using year-over-year comparisons, you will see this hurdle did not slow them down. Investigations were thorough and complete.
They served with humble hearts and were guardians for our community. Near the end of the year, we hired several and staffing was stabilizing. We have built a solid team who hold true to our motto of “Concern, Compassion, Courage”.
THE NUMBERS
9 10
72 29
161
22 17
78 4
12 100
32 206
18 14
159
1454
1233
4641
4261
777
642
317
467
119
94 OVER THE YEARS
2019-2023
THEFT ROBBERY
DOMESTIC VIOLENCE VEHICLE THEFT
306
267
228
206
161
15 9
11 12
10 11
6 8
14 17
15 14
18 18
22 OVER THE YEARS
2019-2023
BURGLARY
DUI ASSAULT
RAPE
42 24
41 159
78 126
123
123
100
72 8
5 8
4 9
39 42
41 32
29 RECORDS AND EVIDENCE
The Records Department consists of two full time non-sworn employees.
The front window is open Monday – Friday from
09:00 – 17:00 for the general public to come in asking
questions, seeking assistance or needing to speak to an officer. For two hours a day, four days a week,
Livescan services are provided to customers from as
far south as Gualala.
The Records Department processes reports that need
to be forwarded to the District Attorney’s Office,
liaises with other County agencies such as Probation,
Child Protective Services, Adult Protective Services
and Parole In addition to answering the phone,
processing reports, there are additional duties assigned to each employee.
The Property and Evidence Room is a huge part of the
additional duties of our Administrative Assistant. Each piece of found property, evidence or arrestee property has to be checked into the evidence room and placed in a pre-designated area for
storage. Property that can be released is then checked
out, ownership verified and then released upon
completion of relevant paperwork.
Some property releases, such as firearms, are
dependent upon approval from the Department of
Justice. Our Property Technician ensures that all
relevant paperwork is provided to the DOJ prior to the
release of any firearm.
Our Administrative Analyst is also the Custodian of
Records for all police reports. She is also the Human
Resources liaison and the Department of Justice point
of contact for Sex and Arson Registrants, State and
Federal crime report filing, Training and security
updates for employees access to DOJ programs.
202
As the Captain for the Police Department, I am proud to manage the Department’s Patrol Division, Care Response Unit including Project Right Now, and all of the Department’s grant programs. Additionally in 2023, I was assigned as the City’s Emergency Manager, tasked with reviewing the City’s Emergency Operations Plan as well as coming up with a multi-year exercise and training plan for City staff and stakeholders.
In 2023, our Patrol Division focused on honing their investigative skills and addressing crimes that are more complex by drastically increasing our use of search warrants in the course of investigations. During 2023, the Patrol Division wrote more search warrants in a year than the Division has in recorded history. This was despite the Division operating at an average of 75% of its authorized staffing levels. The vast majority of search warrants written in 2023 were related to controlled substance sales with a focus on fentanyl sales.
We applied for and received nearly $600,000 in grants funds for various projects including the Care Response Unit, Project Right Now, and driving under the influence enforcement and education. The driving under the influence grant allows us to provide educational opportunities to the public, as well as providing funding to send nearly half of our patrol staff to specialized DUI training. In 2023, our Department’s proactive enforcement related to driving under the influence reduced traffic collisions related to alcohol and drug impairment. These programs allow us to expand the services available to the public and ensure that our police officers can focus on addressing crime.
When 2024 closes, we hope to bring forward another report that demonstrates the growth our Department has made throughout the year, with that growth reflecting our motto of “Concern, Compassion, Courage”.
PATROL DIVISION
Captain Thomas O’Neal
In 2023, CRU expanded its flagship model of addressing
homelessness and mental health issues and is now
offering additional services to the community. CRU began providing services related to individuals struggling with substance use disorder, victims of domestic violence, and first responders and community members requiring
specialized emotional support.
“How can we help?” is the approach CRU uses when
working with individuals they come in contact with, and in 2023 the program provided direct services to over 300 community members.
One of CRU’s specialized services is the Homeward Bound Program (HBP). HBP allows CRU to connect individuals back to their place of origin or areas where they have existing support systems (family) via bus, train, or gas vouchers. In 2023, CRU reconnected nearly 17 individuals with support systems in other communities. The support systems agreed to assist these individuals when they arrived.
In 2023, Mendocino County signed a two-year agreement with the City of Fort Bragg for CRU to continue to operate the Emergency Weather
Shelter through 2025. This agreement was funded
through a State Homeless Housing Assistance and
Prevention grant. CRU provided over 600 bed
nights to homeless individuals during the 22/23
Winter Season serving 165 unduplicated
individuals.
In 2023, CRU received requests from multiple law
enforcement departments across the state to share
data and procedures related to the CRU program
with the goal of those agencies replicating CRU’s success. As another testament to the program’s success, Dr. Robert Marbut (past Executive Director of the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness) conducted a
follow-up visit to our city following his 2017 report on the state of homelessness in Mendocino County. Dr. Marbut
met with CRU and personally recognized the amazing
progress the program has made at addressing homelessness in Fort Bragg.
2023 ANNUAL REPORT - PATROL STATISTICS
CARE RESPONSE UNIT (CRU)
PRN was launched in February of 2023 and is designed to combat the opioid and substance abuse crisis for youth ages 12-24. PRN works by getting youth the assistance they need in their homes, schools, and on the street, to address the underlying issues related to their substance abuse use. PRN is funded through a combination of State and Federal grant through the California Institute of Behavioral Health Solutions and the California Youth Opioid Response. In 2023, PRN
successfully met with virtually every Middle School and High School student offering services and support where needed.
PRN has proudly provided direct services to over 100 youth during 2023.
In 2023, PRN has distributed nearly 300 doses of
Narcan to the community and provided training to
over 500 community members along the coast. PRN
has provided direct training to both the Fort Bragg
and Mendocino School Districts, businesses, and non
-profit organizations. In December, PRN hosted two
Spanish speaking Narcan trainings that were attended
by over forty individuals.
PROJECT RIGHT NOW (PRN)
SPECIAL INVESTIGATIONS
Special Investigator Wes Rafanan performs complex criminal, internal, administrative and confidential investigations. He is responsible for the intensive backgrounds required for police officers, which take months to complete. Investigator Rafanan manages, directs and conducts department training. He also supervises the enforcement activities in support of the City’s local code enforcement program.
In 2023, a list of six “Core Courses” of advanced officer training was established.
These courses are Collision Investigation, Interviewing, Crisis Intervention Training, Radar, Lidar, and DUI Investigations. These will be priority and mandatory for all officers to attend to greatly enhance our service to the community.
The Fort Bragg Police Department hosted a number of
courses over 2023. Those courses included Why’d You
Stop Me (WYSM), Leading the Professional
Employee, Crisis Intervention, California Sex and
Arson Registration (CSAR), Red Dot Firearms
Instructor, and Public Records Act.
Hosting locally saves thousands of dollars while
ensuring we have high quality training for staff.
In 2023, Investigator Rafanan completed four
peace officer backgrounds, two community
service officer backgrounds, two police
officer recruit backgrounds, and one code
enforcement officer background.
California Peace Officer Standards &
Training (POST) conducted an audit of our
backgrounds with no discrepancies found.
WYSM instructors and students.
2023 ANNUAL REPORT - PATROL STATISTICS
CODE ENFORCEMENT
The mission of the code enforcement team is to gain
voluntary compliance by partnering with property and
business owners to resolve complaints or issues before
moving forward with the issuance of fines or penalties.
Applying funds from the California Department of Housing and Community Development block
grant, the Police Department hired and
added an internal candidate to the
code enforcement team. Following the
direction of Chief Cervenka, the Code
Enforcement team began aligning the
complaint intake process, and noticing
practices with industry standard.
The overwhelming majority of cases
are resolved through compliance.
2023 by the numbers:
151 New code enforcement complaints
14 Unfounded
5 Administrative Hearings
1 Abatement warrant
1 Misdemeanor arrest
COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT
During the football season, our Officers spent their time either coaching the youth, or cooking up some delicious food at the home games! When time allowed, we always enjoyed showing up to share our school spirit and support by cheering our youth every step of the way!
SPORTS
This was the first year our
department hosted The Law
Enforcement Special Olympic
Torch Run (LETR). The LETR is
an international movement
comprised of more than 110,000
law enforcement personnel who
choose Special Olympics as their
charity of choice! Additional
events include The Polar Plunge
and The Special Olympics
Basketball Tournament! All great
events we look forward to each
year!
National Night Out (NNO) is an annual
community-building campaign that promotes
police-community partnerships and neighborhood
camaraderie to make our neighborhoods safer,
more caring place to live. The Police Department
hosted our annual NNO at Bainbridge Park this
year where there was tons of great food, fun games
and lots of smiling faces!
Our agency participated in the other events throughout the City this year! Some of the major events noted are: Paul Bunyan Days, Carnival by the Sea and Trunk or Treat!
NATIONAL NIGHT OUT (NNO)
SPECIAL OLYMPICS
SOCIAL MEDIA
In 2023, The Fort Bragg Police Department Social Media Team utilized multiple social media platforms to disseminate important information regarding public safety, weather, traffic, and community concerns.
Beyond just providing information, the social media team strived to let you know more about us! Multiple posts were created to promote community engagement and provide insight into the multiple projects going on here at the police department.
Over 2023, our social media reach
exploded! We saw a 2,600 % increase
this year. We also saw a 263% increase
in our Facebook Page visits, and 154%
increase in our likes
and follows!
LEADING THE CHARGE
In the summer of 2023, Fort Bragg PD put its first
EV patrol vehicles into service. Within a very short
period of time, four 2023 Ford Lightning Pro SSV
police trucks were quietly patrolling the streets of
Fort Bragg. Because of private, state, and federal
grants, the decision to move to EV’s will save tens
of thousands of dollars of general funds.
These trucks represented half of the patrol fleet and
drew attention wherever we went. One of our
trucks was driven to CopsWest - the largest law
enforcement expo and training event on the west
coast - in Ontario, California. Hundreds looked at it
and several agencies are now exploring the real
possibility of a patrol fleet which is completely
electric. Along the way, several community
members stopped to look and ask questions.
In the first five months, these four trucks saved over
$7,000 in fuel costs including the increase in
electricity bills. When the patrol fleet is completely
electric, the projected annual savings is over
$40,000. Due to thousands of less parts, standard
annual maintenance is also saving thousands
of dollars and hours of mechanic time.
While moving to EV patrol cars was far
outside the norm, Fort Bragg PD is proving
the concept for the rest of the country.
2023 ANNUAL AWARDS
Administrative Analyst Lesley Bryant
Distinguished Service
Distinguished Service
Captain Thomas O’Neal
Award of Excellence
Care Response Unit
Hannah Nanez & Janette Ornelas
Officer of The Year Professional Staff of the Year
Chief’s Award
Chief’s Award
Officer Padriac Ferris
Captain Thomas O’Neal
Officer Jarod Frank Administrative Analyst Lesley Bryant In 2023, Officers Beak and Frank were
presented awards in Sacramento from Mothers
Against Drunk Driving Northern California
(MADD).
Every year, MADD honors law enforcement
for the number of impaired driving arrests
made annually along with first responders,
prosecutors, probation officers and MADD
volunteers for their life-saving efforts those
who investigate and arrest at least 25
individuals driving under the influence of
alcohol or drugs over the course of the
previous year, are awarded a “23152” pin.
23152 is the vehicle code for DUI.
Combined these officers arrested 142 drivers
who were determined to be operating a motor
vehicle while under the influence of alcohol.
Officer Frank was one of five out of the 250
officers who were awarded their 23152 pin to
receive the “Century Award”. The Century
Award is given to those that investigated over
100 incidents resulting in the arrest of a driver
under the influence of alcohol.
2023 MADD AWARDS
New faces in 2023
Community Service Officer
Amanda Pacheco
October 2023
Sergeant
Nayeli DeLeon
December 2023
Police Officer
Humberto Arellano
December 2023
The Fort Bragg Police
Department will show concern
for our community, have
compassion for all those we
serve, and exemplify courage
to do the right thing.
Concern, Compassion, Courage
Since 1889