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The Sacramento County Board of Supervisors meets for a board meeting at the County Administration Center in Sacramento on Jan. 27. Supervisors are scheduled to revisit the county budget Tuesday, including reconsideration of funding for the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office Problem Oriented Policing Unit after previously restoring funding for several other sheriff teams.<\/p>\n
Hannah Ruhoff<\/p>\n
hruhoff@sacbee.com<\/p>\n
As the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors prepares to revisit the county budget Tuesday, one proposed cut has become a focal point of debate: eliminating the Sheriff\u2019s Office\u2019s Problem-Oriented Policing Unit, or POP unit, a move supporters of the team say would have significant consequences for public safety.<\/p>\n
Facing a $101 million shortfall driven by a long-term structural deficit and costs associated with HR 1, the Sacramento County Executive Office proposed an $8.9 billion budget<\/a> for the 2026-27 fiscal year that would cut $57 million from general fund departments. The reductions would eliminate 194.5 full-time positions<\/a>, including 38 from the Sheriff\u2019s Office.<\/p>\n The POP unit, however, remained on the chopping block when the Board of Supervisors approved the amended budget on a 4-1 vote. Supervisor and board chair Rosario Rodriguez cast the lone dissenting vote, citing cuts to public safety funding, including the elimination of the POP team.<\/p>\n \u201cI was not supportive of taking away the POP team, which has a critical impact on the unincorporated parts of the county,\u201d Rodriguez said in an interview.<\/p>\n A week later, Supervisor Pat Hume introduced a motion to reconsider funding for the POP unit \u2014 a move seconded by Rodriguez<\/a>, according to a social media post from the Rodriguez\u2019s office June 16.<\/p>\n While Rodriguez and other supporters have pushed to preserve the unit, critics of expanding Sheriff\u2019s Office funding argue that the county should instead invest in social and community services.<\/p>\n \u201cPolicing is not a preventative measure; it is a reactionary measure,\u201d Christopher Camilo Carbajal-Carbajal, the program and campaign coordinator for Decarcerate Sacramento, an anti-incarceration community organization, said in a July interview. \u201cWhat is prevention is investing in social workers \u2014 investing in housing, food, in improving people\u2019s material and social conditions.\u201d<\/p>\n A proactive policing approach<\/p>\n The POP unit is a six-person \u201cproactive\u201d policing team that works with community members to address recurring public safety and quality-of-life problems in their neighborhoods, according to Sgt. Bianca Reeve, the unit\u2019s supervisor.<\/p>\n Reeve said the unit differs from traditional investigative teams because it aims to address long-term problems before they escalate, rather than investigate crimes that have already occurred.<\/p>\n \u201cDetectives are very reactionary,\u201d Reeve said in an interview. \u201cThey get the report, and then they are following up on that report, hopefully getting leads, hopefully identifying a suspect, hopefully making an arrest. My team exists to try and prevent problems.\u201d<\/p>\n Working with businesses, residents and neighborhood watch groups, the POP unit receives tips from community members and investigates them. Reports can range from suspected squatters in vacant homes to possible narcotics activity, Reeve said.<\/p>\n POP unit officers typically observe a location to determine whether a report appears credible before conducting surveillance and contacting the parties involved.<\/p>\n During a June ride-along, Reeve\u2019s team drove past an Arden Arcade apartment complex where the unit had received a tip about a suspected narcotics manufacturing lab. Recognizing the complex from a previous arrest but seeing little activity, the team planned to return later.<\/p>\n The same day, the unit was working to arrange a controlled purchase of illegal fireworks from a suspected seller ahead of the July Fourth holiday. While the operation was unlikely to stop every illegal sale, Reeve said issuing citations to sellers could deter future sales and purchases.<\/p>\n \u201cOnce we identify what the problem is, we can find a solution,\u201d Reeve said.<\/p>\n Depending on the circumstances, solutions may include detaining individuals involved in the sale or use of illegal substances and items. Officers may also educate residents and business owners on \u201ccrime prevention through environmental design\u201d \u2014 identifying conditions that may create an \u201cinviting environment for criminal activity or nefarious activity\u201d and correcting them, such as by replacing broken windows.<\/p>\n \u201cThe biggest thing that people will struggle to understand is what we do without any statistics or metrics,\u201d Reeve said. \u201cThey\u2019ll never know about the homicide we prevented or the overdose we stopped.\u201d<\/p>\n Disparity between unincorporated areas, cities<\/p>\n If the POP unit is eliminated, its six officers would return to patrol assignments.<\/p>\n While the change may increase the number of patrol officers, Reeve argued that it would also reduce the department\u2019s ability to devote officers to long-term neighborhood problems, citing the limited time patrol deputies have to spend on each call because of the volume of calls they receive.<\/p>\n Patrol officers face a \u201cgame of triage,\u201d Reeve said, pointing to an automatic dispatch system that reorders calls based on the severity of the incident and priority, leaving some callers waiting for service for hours after first contacting dispatch.<\/p>\n During the June 25 ride-along, one call had been pending for 195 minutes.<\/p>\n Given the volume of calls, patrol officers may have only 20 to 30 minutes to respond to a call for service. For recurring issues, that can result in short-term intervention or mediation without long-term crime prevention, according to Reeve.<\/p>\n Rodriguez, pointing to the volume of calls the Sheriff\u2019s Office receives, also argued that eliminating the POP unit would have a \u201ccritical impact on response times and being able to manage the issues that have a tendency to get out of hand,\u201d especially for residents of unincorporated areas. Rodriguez represents the county\u2019s northeast tier including the cities of Folsom and Citrus Heights, as well as unincorporated areas such as Elverta, Rio Linda, Antelope and Orangevale.<\/p>\n According to Sheriff Jim Cooper, the Sheriff\u2019s Office received 270,515 emergency 911 calls for service last year, with an average response time of 14 minutes and 21 seconds \u2014 nearly four minutes longer than the Sacramento Police Department\u2019s average response time that year.<\/p>\n \u201cThe number one thing that I believe that we, as elected officials, should handle for the unincorporated county is ensuring that they are safe,\u201d Rodriguez said of the disparity in service times.<\/p>\n Calls for community investment<\/p>\n While supporters of the POP unit say the team prevents crime before it escalates, opponents of restoring its funding say the county should instead invest in community and social services \u2014 \u201ctrue public safety,\u201d Natasha Minsker, who facilitates the California Anti-Death Penalty Coalition and the Sacramento County Anti-Death Penalty Coalition, said in a July interview.<\/p>\n \u201cProactive policing as a concept, we think is misplaced,\u201d Minsker said. \u201cWhat we need are more social workers, community outreach workers, and professional mental health staff \u2014 those are the people that should be making contact with the folks who are in need.\u201d<\/p>\n Minsker, who is also a member of Decarcerate Sacramento, an anti-incarceration advocacy organization, joined the organization in urging the Board of Supervisors to maintain the Sheriff\u2019s Office cuts approved in June and redirect resources toward human and health services that would be cut in the upcoming fiscal year.<\/p>\n Under the tentatively approved budget, more than $17 million would be cut from child, family and adult services.<\/p>\n \u201cThe board cut critical services for those children and their families,\u201d Minsker said. \u201cNobody\u2019s coming back to revisit that next week. They\u2019re talking about sheriffs, more badges, more guns.\u201d<\/p>\n
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