Q&A: Sheriff's North Patrol Talks Carmichael Crimes

North Patrol Division Sgt. Eric Buehler and Dep. Brad Rose stress one of the most important parts of addressing local criminal activity is by encouraging community interaction with the division.

Weed, vagrants, vandalism and burglary: Buehler and Rose explain these are the biggest issues impacting Carmichael and in that order. Sitting down with the officers, they explain why these issues persist and what locals can do to assist Sheriff's units in this perpetuating struggle.

Carmichael Patch: Describe some of the larger issues your division is addressing right now.

Eric Buehler: One of the biggest issues we get from business owners are the transients begging, hanging out or just loitering. The issue is the larger population of these transients are living a life they have become accustomed to or basically prefer due to their becoming outcasts from their families or addiction problems, typically alcohol. These people have found a way to acclimate themselves to their situations and become somewhat of a nomad.

CP: What attracts these people to Carmichael?

EB: The recycle centers become magnets to transients because that's their bread and butter.

CP: Is there any way you can work with the recycling centers to help minimize that element?

EB: We're trying to deal with the sale of precious metals like the stolen copper and that kind of stuff. That's a whole other epicdemic right now. I'm sure it's statewide. We have specific officers now going out to areas to specifically address those issues now as opposed to just being reactive. The department is being more proactive now.

CP: Is there anything your department can do beyond just enforcing those laws?

Brad Rose: We hold bi-monthly where we discuss crime trends and crime prevention. It's our way of getting in touch with the community and finding out what problems are affecting them most. We them coordinate crime prevention plans based on the information we get from these meetings.

CP: If you were to prioritze these issues, what would you say is the number-one issue in Carmichael?

BR: I would say as of right now of the last two meetings that I've had in Carmichael, the number one issue everybody is complaining about is .

CP: Dispensaries?

BR: The dispensaries, the backyard cultivators - that's the hot topic in Carmichael right now.

CP: How many dispensaries are there in Carmichael?

BR: I can tell you on Fair Oaks Boulevard there are as many as six operating right now between Marconi Avenue and Winding Way.

EB: I think there are more than that.

BR: The last meeting we held was specifically on the topic of marijuana and I want to say there were 30 people there. Of that 29 of them were self-admitted voters for Proposition 215 and all of 29 of them had buyer's remorse. People have a feeling they're not getting what they voted for.

EB: Here's the issue: We walk into these businesses and they'll look at me like, 'What are you doing here? Why are you here?' It's a very defensive approach to it because we're looked at as the enemy. The reality is in the enforcement of the proper licensing, because there is no proper zoning code permitting them to operate, that isn't even enforcement by the Sheriff's Department at all; we're not going in there and shutting down these places. That's handled by county code enforcement officers.

CP: How can your department be proactive about these issues while equipping the community with the best tools to prevent crime from happening?

EB: What we try to do is get everybody involved and get in contact with each other so they can share the problems and solutions they see. If everybody works together I think that's the solution to the downward slide to some of these areas.

CP: Are you guys seeing progress?

EB: Absolutely.

BR: We get e-mails from neighborhood watch coordinators on behalf of the whole neighborhood, saying 'You guys helped identify the spray painting problem and now we haven't had a spray painting problem in six months. I think what we do is very effective.

EB: And that's with very limited resources - five officers assigned to the entire north division.

CP: If you put progress within the community on a chart graph and were able to measure exactly and illustrate exactly what that progress looked like what would it be?

BR: I think it's going to look like an EKG. Let's say in a community like Arden Arcade, where we've been out there just hammering people, it's going to be looking better. While we're there and not in another community, now it's seeing problems.

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The north division is holding its next community meeting on Nov. 15 at the Del Campo High School library, 4925 Dewey Dr., in Fair Oaks.