By Monica Vaughan
Appeal-Democrat
MARYSVILLE, Calif. — Officer Miguel Deleon expected to be chasing taillights for the remainder of his career with the Yuba-Sutter California Highway Patrol.
Instead, for the last two months, he has spent his work days introducing himself to school administrators in the foothills, letting children climb through his patrol vehicle, casing neighborhood traffic concerns and attending fall festivals and town hall meetings in south Sutter County.
He and Officer Greg Gomez are a new two-man community policing team focused on building community partnerships and safety solutions. They still respond, when nearby, to collisions and patrol service calls.
The CORE program, or Community Outreach Resources & Enforcement, was launched Oct. 1 by Capt. Shon Harris in an effort to enhance public trust with a proactive approach to public safety.
For example, Deleon and Gomez are coordinating with administrators at Linda Elementary School to create a traffic safety plan. The process requires them to watch patterns during high-traffic times and identify risks. Another project under the program umbrella is a mentoring program for teens interested in law enforcement.
No additional hires were made for the community policing effort. The two officers were pulled from patrol, Harris said.
The launch of the program comes at a time of enhanced community policing efforts nationwide in response to law enforcement agencies falling under intense public scrutiny after a series of high-profile shootings by officers.
Sacramento, for example, recently launched a new Community Police Commission to “bridge the gaps between law enforcement and the community.”
Harris said Yuba-Sutter residents are generally trusting of law enforcement agencies, for which he is grateful.
“But we don’t want to be foolish enough to think we live in a bubble,” he said.
The Marysville Police Department, too, has increased community-outreach efforts, with the programs Coffee with a Cop and the launch of a Citizen’s Police Academy. (Applications are now available at the department for the next free 10-week program that begins Jan. 20.)
Other agencies, such as the Sutter County Sheriff’s Department, require deputies participate in a community policing effort, but their programs haven’t expanded in recent years, Lt. Daniel Buttler said.
But the philosphy of community policing rests on the belief that citizens also have a responsibility to participate in the police process, according to the National Crime Prevention Council.
“It also rests on the belief that solutions to today’s contemporary community problems demand freeing both community residents and law enforcement to explore creative ways to address neighborhood concerns beyond a narrow focus on individual crimes,” the council said.
New contacts that wouldn’t have otherwise been made have been created through the new program, and the officers are staying busy.
“Since the program has evolved, it’s opened a lot of doors,” Gomez said.
And that’s what law enforcement officers want — open communication, especially when the success of investigations often hinges on the cooperation of civilian witnesses.
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