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Residents take part in Crime Town Hall

Julie Reeder

Publisher

Fifth Supervisor Jim Desmond held a Crime Town Hall meeting by Zoom on April 19. There were about 75 people on the call and the first speaker was San Diego District Attorney Summer Stephan. As district attorney, she leads the second-largest DA’s office in California, managing a professional staff of 1,000 employees, serving as the people’s prosecutor for San Diego County and its more than three million residents.

The first topic she addressed was the problem San Diego County has with early release convicted criminals which started as an emergency response from COVID. She said they were supposed to be letting out non-serious, non-violent criminals, but in her estimation they were serious and violent criminals. She stated the state wants to make these programs permanent, even though they don’t have any re-entry plans, housing or jobs for the people being released early.

Stephan used the example of someone who is sentenced to 10 years can get out without parole, housing, or anything after serving just over three years. Apparently the prisons haven’t announced yet if they are going to make the program permanent. She said we need to keep the community alert and she needs the community to fight alongside her as they try to balance the rights of everyone, people who are incarcerated, victims, and the community.

The next big issue Stephan spoke to the group about was fentanyl, which she said is so readily available on our San Diego County streets. She said it is 50 times stronger than heroin. She said the overdose deaths from fentanyl make it the number one killer of people under 45. She also said the cartels make it in labs in Mexico and make it look exactly like Xanax or Percocet or Oxycoton or something that came from a pharmacy and people take it, not realizing it may kill them.

Overdose deaths in 2020 rose from between 100 and 200 to 817 during the year that included shutdowns.

She said she has investigators assigned to teams to fight the fentanyl problem, which also includes the Sheriff’s Department and CHP.

She said it’s important to pass the word along that people should not take pills that look like they came from a pharmacy but didn’t come from your doctor.

Organized retail theft was the third topic. The CHP has been leading a fight against organized crime thefts in retail shops, large and small, which have been sharing information. She says the crimes aren’t random. They have a shopping list that is very specific. The organizations give them a list. She reported one case that included a list worth $700,000. The agencies are working to get a full picture. DA Stephan said the smallest tip could be a big help. “The word kind of went out that San Diego probably isn’t the place to go with your organized retail theft so we’ve seen a downturn.”

Stephan’s final topic was the Family Justice Center in San Marcos which Desmond and the Sheriff are partnering on as well. Stephan said, “It will be a hub to help victims of all kinds, including domestic violence, human trafficking, and elder abuse. It will be able to help them, especially with women and children. The number one driver of homelessness is fleeing a dangerous home.” The center will be able to make sure that no one walks in and out without housing.

CHP Capt. Charles Leonard, who came to the San Diego area after starting in Central Los Angeles, explained that many officers in CHP, and the undersheriff live in the Fallbrook area and understand local concerns.

His primary topic concerned staffing issues with CHP. He said in the past they would have 75 to 80 officers and today they have 53, including officers out on limited duty or injured, even though there is more need and the population has grown. He stated it’s not a lack of effort, that they are just legitimately short staffed. He said they used to have a back shelf of new recruits in the wings and now they can’t even fully staff.

He said, “On a good day there’s five units from Oceanside to Palomar to Temecula. It’s not that they don’t want to go to specific areas, but to be completely transparent and honest, it’s hard for them to focus on a specific area when they are going from one call to the next. Actually a lot of our shift time is on overtime just because we can’t staff with regular officers.”

Desmond said, “Unfortunately recruiting officers is tough and you took a hard rap in the press and the media in the last couple of years, undeserved I think, and while no institution is perfect, unfortunately I think it’s really hurt our law enforcement’s ability to recruit and we need, all across the board, more people in law enforcement and I know it’s hard with forced overtime.”

In the question and answer forum, mail theft was discussed. Undersheriff Kelly Martinez said, “Stolen mail is a crime of opportunity and it’s really important that you report it when it happens.” She added that it’s important to be proactive if it’s happening, including possibly locking your mailbox, letting the Sheriff know so they can put extra patrols at the time you typically get mail, or have someone else pick up your mail soon after it’s delivered.

Another question was about a problem house, specifically 228 N. Stagecoach Lane. The person asking the question was reporting possible drugs, parties, assaults, burglary charges and stated that the neighbors have been reporting the problem for some time. They asked what can be done?

Lt. Hernandez responded. He said he likes to meet with everyone in person to hear about these problems. He said it’s typical that people get arrested but then they come right out and are right back in the house. So he said they have had success and it takes a longer-term plan, which can be worked out.

Hernandez said there are several houses that have problems like this in the area and the owner may not even be in control of the property. They are aware and make arrests but the residents continue the pattern of criminal activity. Desmond offered to help if there was anything they could do.

The undersheriff said Lt. Hernandez has done a great job and been very proactive.

Another caller said they had a petty theft and the officer had discouraged the homeowner from reporting the residence theft, but the Lieutenant said they should report it and it should be the choice of the caller and not the officer whether a report is taken or not.

The undersheriff said it’s important to report the property lost in the theft because it may be a year later that they actually find it and can return it.

A caller asked “What is the proper way to report a crime?” Who do they call?

CHP Capt. Leonard talked about how they work with the Sheriff's department to coordinate, so if you call one department, they will reroute the call to the appropriate department. He said they get between 900 to 1600 9-1-1 calls in a 24 hour period and there are five dispatchers covering the county so it may take a few seconds before the call is answered, but once it is it will be referred to the proper authority once the call is answered.

For more information on the Sheriff’s Department, visit https://www.sdsheriff.gov/.

 

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