Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department The Central Division Link A Crime Prevention Monthly Publication

Serving the Unincorporated areas of South Sacramento

www.sacsheriff.com

Working together for a safer place to live and work

Sheriff Scott Jones February 2015

Captain Gary Ilg- Commander 876-8302 Lieutenant Martin Sherrel- Assistant Commander 876-8302 Sergeant Ray Duncan- Problem Oriented Policing Supervisor 876-8353 Laura Grossman- Crime Prevention Specialist/ Newsletter Editor 876-8322 Terri Kral- Office Manager 876-8309 Service Center-7000 65th Street Suite B, Sacramento, CA 95823 Monday-Friday (Excluding holidays)

9am-5pm 876-8300

Central Division Meet & Greet

We had a great turn out at the Meet & Greet. Residents,

business partnerships and allied agencies joined in the

conversation with Captain Ilg. Community concerns and

departmental policies and structure were discussed. Some

topics included concerns about the homeless and

panhandling. Captain Ilg explained patrol procedures and

patrol response to calls for service. Central Division’s

Assistant Commander Lieutenant Martin Sherrel, The POP

Team as well as Crime Prevention Specialist Laura Grossman

were present and participated in the conversation. Also

present to answer questions were our two District Attorney

Community Prosecutors. Below are some photos of the meet

& greet. We thank everyone who came and appreciate the

support.

Everyone is invited to a Neighborhood Watch

meeting on Thursday, March 5th at Beitzel Elementary

School-MP Room,

8140 Caymus Drive.

Detective Dave Olson from our Financial Crimes Unit will explain how to protect yourself against Identity

Theft.

You don’t want to

miss this one!

Captain Ilg

Lieutenant Sherrel and

Parkway Estates residents

POP Officer Miller discusses issues

in the Vintage Park area.

POP Officer Allen discusses

issues about a homeless camp

Press Release-Sacramento County Panhandling Ordinance

As a result of a December 2014 court settlement by the County of Sacramento, the Sacra-mento Sheriff’s Department will be embarking on the thirty day period of educating both our employees and the public in regards to the enforcement of the Sacramento County Pan-handling Ordinance (sections 9.81.010-070).

Effective today, patrol officers who encounter persons that may be unaware they are com-mitting a violation of this ordinance will be handed an educational notice.

While the Sheriff’s Department aims to retain discretion during each violation encounter, our goal is to gain voluntary compliance rather than issue a citation in every situation.

Protecting Yourself from Burglary By Detective Sergeant Brannon Polete

There is nothing more frustrating, aggravating and, quite frankly, scary than being the victim of a burglary. The feeling of being violated can be over whelming when you have had to deal with the fact a stranger has forced their way into your home, damaged property and stolen your possessions. You might ask yourself what I can do to better protect myself. There are many options to ponder, from expensive super high tech alarm/surveillance systems, to very simple cost effective measures to secure your home. I will discuss a few ideas to help you protect your home, valuables and family.

I have been asked several times throughout my career as a law enforcement officer, “What can I do to protect myself from burglary?” I often simply reply, “If you look like food you will get eaten.” Think of the criminal as a predator, waiting for the most opportune time to strike and devour its prey. If you make the predator’s job more difficult then you are less likely to get preyed upon. Burglars are opportunists. They do not want to be detected, seen or caught. Make their job more difficult and they go away.

The single biggest thing you can do is lock your home. Many times I have responded to a burglary and the home owner simply forgot to lock their home or consciously decided to leave their house unsecure. The mindset has been “Oh I am only going to be gone for a few minutes.” A burglar only needs about 2-3 minutes of time to enter and steal a few items and be gone. If you provide the opportunity for them to enter they will take it. Affix good solid deadbolt locks on all your doors. Be sure the door case is of sound structure.

To add additional security to the door frame consider putting 3-4” wood screws into the door casing. Be sure the screws are long enough so when you sink the screws they embed into the 2X4 deep in the interior of the door frame. Apply screws every six inches on the lock/striker plate side of the door frame.

On your windows for additional security affix window locks that can be drilled into the window frame and easily latched to secure the window. Often times a window can be simply smashed out, but this can create a lot of noise, and remember, the burglar doesn’t want to be detected. Simply applying another level of security is crucial to preventing a break in.

Evaluate your exterior lighting. If your house is dark on the outside, you are providing a cover of darkness for a burglar to choose your home. Add some exterior flood lights that you can manually turn on, or have a motion sensor light activation when someone walks up to any side of your house. The motion sensor lights seem to be more economical being the light does not have to be illuminated all night. Leave lights on in the interior of your home. Buy a simple timer that automatically turns the lights on and off.

About the author: Sergeant Brannon Polete is a 25 year veteran lf law enforcement and has worked a variety of assignments ranging from patrol, investigations, SWAT, and gangs. Sergeant Polete has worked for the City of Santa Maria, City of Woodland, and presently the Sacramento Sheriff’s Department. He is currently assigned as a Detective Sergeant of Centralized Investigations, Property Crimes Bureau.

Some Interesting Stats

The following displays crime stats for the South Sacramento areas for 2014.

Where do you live?