LAKEPORT, Calif. — After a nationwide search for a new police chief, the city of Lakeport said this week that it has chosen a longtime member of the Lakeport Police Department to lead the agency.

City Manager Kevin Ingram made the final decision to hire Capt. Dale Stoebe to take over the role.

Stoebe will oversee an agency with 13 sworn officers who serve a city of just under 5,000 residents but which attracts thousands more daily visitors as well as tourists.

“As someone who grew up here in this wonderful community, it is both a profound honor and a personal responsibility for me to serve as your police chief,” said Stoebe in a statement released by the city. “I am deeply committed to the safety and well-being of Lakeport, and I promise to lead with the same dedication and care that I would for my own family. Together, we will continue to foster a safe, supportive, and thriving environment for all our residents.”

Stoebe, a lifelong Lakeport resident, has been with the Lakeport Police Department since 1990. He will succeed Chief Brad Rasmussen, who is set to retire in September and has served as chief since May of 2011.

Rasmussen was elected as the new District 4 representative on the Lake County Board of Supervisors in the March primary and will take office in January.

In its announcement on the hiring, the city said that Stoebe was chosen as the top candidate “through a rigorous assessment process” that was part of the extensive national search facilitated by Bob Hall & Associates Executive Recruiters.

Rasmussen announced his candidacy for supervisor in March of 2023. Six months later, in September, he asked for, and received, the City Council’s approval for Stoebe to travel to the Federal Bureau of Investigation National Academy in Quantico, Virginia.

Rasmussen said the agency had applied to the FBI in early 2022 to have Stoebe admitted to the 10-week academy, the nation’s “top leadership course for police leaders.”

Stoebe attended from January through March. The FBI sponsored the course but the city paid for travel, which was expected to be less than $2500.

In January, the same month that Stoebe left for the academy, the City Council unanimously approved a $27,000 contract with Bob Hall & Associates for the recruitment.

Administrative Services Director/City Clerk Kelly Buendia told the council in January that staff was asking to hire the firm because they had concluded that the recruitment “quickly gets out of our scope.”

The city’s announcement included a statement from Councilmember Stacey Mattina. “I am excited to have Captain Stoebe take the reins. He already understands the public safety needs of Lakeport and has long established strong community relationships.”

Stoebe initially was hired as a reserve officer in 1990, and was hired as a full-time officer in 1993.

In his 33 years with the department, the city said Stoebe has served in capacities including patrol officer, narcotics task force member and school resource officer, where he was involved in teaching the Drug Abuse Resistance Education, or D.A.R.E., program.

He worked for 10 years as a detective. Stoebe was the initial detective leading the investigation of the October 2022 murder of Barbara La Forge in her downtown frame shop. That case remains the city’s only unsolved murder.

In 2006, he was promoted to sergeant, a role in which he served for eight years. At that point, the city said he took on responsibilities in police operations, recruiting and internal affairs.

Transparent California, the state’s largest pay and pension database, shows Stoebe serving as a sergeant until 2015, and then his title changing to police officer III in 2016. The following year, he was once again listed as sergeant.

Two months after the departure of Lt. Jason Ferguson in July of 2019 to take the chief of police job in Cloverdale, Stoebe was promoted to lieutenant and became second in command of the department, overseeing all its functions.

City officials said the recruitment process started with executive recruiters gathering input from the City Council, members of the Lakeport community, police department staff, and city staff, which set the stage for a nationwide search.

The four most qualified candidates participated in interview panel assessments, which included three panels — one of police chiefs from around the region, another of city staff leadership and the third a community panel.

Following three hours of interviews and being evaluated by 13 different assessors, candidates who city officials said “most closely aligned with the public safety needs of the community” were invited to an interview with Ingram, who ultimately made the decision. Under the city’s governance structure, the city manager hires the police chief.

“Capt. Stoebe was selected after receiving strong feedback from the community panel as well as the other assessors and highlighting his deep-rooted commitment to public safety in Lakeport,” Ingram said.

“The City of Lakeport looks forward to Captain Stoebe's leadership as he assumes his new role as Police Chief, continuing to enhance the safety and well-being of the community,” the city said in its announcement.

The pay rate for Stoebe has so far not been disclosed, but Transparent California shows Ramussen’s pay totals about $130,000 a year, excluding benefits, while Stoebe’s 2022 pay was just over $104,000.

It’s expected that the City Council will discuss and approve Stoebe’s employment contract at an upcoming meeting

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