Lassen County’s Sheriff Urges Supervisors to Consider Drastic Changes in the Department as Safety Concerns in the Jail Rise

Lassen County Sheriff Dean Growdon shares growing concerns as vacancies in the department continue to increase safety risks. This past week the jail received resignations from two additional deputies prompting the Sheriff to urge the county Supervisors to consider making drastic changes. Growdon shared to the supervisors during their Tuesday meeting that the jail had its first serious incident with an inmate stabbing another multiple times, stating the jail is seeing more hardened criminals and is not the same place as it used to be. Growdon says it is extremely difficult to find new hires as the dynamics of the department are changing not only due to a sharp decrease of people wanting to work for law enforcement across the state and country but also because of the looming closure of the prison CCC, the department no longer serves as a training ground for those entering into CDCR or other agencies. No action was taken by the supervisors as the sheriff made his comments during the public commenting period, although Growdon said steps are already being taken to address the issue and says more needs to be done they cannot simply “get by” any longer.