The City of Ripon won’t just be handling dispatch services for the new Lathrop Police Department that will be online in a matter of weeks.

They’ll also be handling evidence storage and management as well.

The Lathrop City Council voted on Monday to approve spending upwards of $50,000 each year to contract with the Ripon Police Department for the evidence handling and storage that had previously been handled by the San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office.

The amount of the contract may fluctuate from year to year due to the way in which Ripon will be compensated for the additional work – which will be billed on an as needed basis at $70 per hour during regular time and $95 per hour for overtime work.

While Lathrop does have a new police department building in River Islands that will house the new agency, that building was not constructed with evidence storage in mind – likely because the city built the complex while still under contract with the sheriff’s office, which handled evidence storage, and before the decision was made to create a standalone agency.

“Lathrop must maintain the chain of custody for the evidence and property received, and make sure the facility requirements are met to store chemicals, hazardous materials, narcotics, explosive materials, and safekeeping of high value properties,” the city wrote in the staff report prepared for the item. “As part of the agreement, the City of Lathrop will provide the property evidence technician that will primarily be responsible in processing the evidence at the City of Ripon facility.

“The City of Ripon will provide staff training, support, and provide designated times to be available when evidence is being processed at the City of Ripon facilities.”

While Lathrop did have a new facility that could house its own police force nearly completed when it made the decision to explore the long-term viability of an inhouse department, the city had to figure out the best way to move forward with other components that had previously been part of the contract with San Joaquin County – things like dispatch and evidence storage.

While the City of Ripon is markedly smaller than Lathrop, Ripon’s police department has long handled dispatch services for Escalon and has hired additional personnel to meet the demand that the Lathrop contract will place on resources. Ripon’s dispatch center was overhauled when the agency took over what was the old City Hall building on Wilma Avenue after the city added an adjacent building complete with new council chambers.

The Lathrop City Council meets on the second Monday of each month at Lathrop City Hall – located at 390 Towne Centre Drive – at 7 p.m. For additional information, or to obtain a copy of the agenda, visit the City of Lathrop’s website at www.ci.lathrop.ca.us.

To contact reporter Jason Campbell email jcampbell@mantecabulletin.com or call 209.249.3544.