Many times people in the community hear the term “POP Officer” and quizzically pause to consider what the difference is between POP and Patrol Officer. Hopefully I can explain the different functions of POP and highlight the issues we focus on.

WHAT IS A POP OFFICER?

Community Oriented Policing is considered an integral and primary part of a community policing program but it is not community policing in and of itself. What it represents is a powerful tool that assists police agencies in considering the totality of the environment that gives rise to crime and crime problems. This allows us to move from an incident based, reactive response to crime, to a proactive, problem-solving response.

In general, POP Officers attempt to focus on impacting crime vs. counting arrests, tickets etc. The long term change in environment is a truer measure of success. Extensive efforts have been made to mobilize communities to increase the reporting of crimes, correct annoying conditions in neighborhoods and make demands on absentee landlords, employers and businesses.

To achieve success we rely heavily on the partnership with the community. It is evident that law enforcement alone cannot turn the tide of crime. The police can, at best, only assist in this task. Getting the job done effectively requires the greater involvement of all citizens and a close working relationship between the two.

To bridge the communication gap between the community and law enforcement, the Northwest Division participates in monthly Community Meetings. Four of these meetings are held once a month for each respective community, with Zone 5 being held every other month. The Northwest Division has the responsibility of five communities (North Highlands, Rio Linda, New Foothill Farms, Old Foothill Farms and Antelope). Therefore, the POP Officers in your area attend four/five separate meetings each month. The meetings give the public direct access to their respective POP Officer and an opportunity to educate us on recent crime activity, problem areas/people and neighborhood nuisances.

Zone 3 (North Highlands)
1st Thursday of Each Month, 5:30pm at the North Highlands Community Center, 6040 Watt Ave

Zone 2 (Antelope)
2nd Thursday of Each Month, 6:30pm at North Highlands/Antelope Library, 4235 Antelope Road

Zone 1 (Rio Linda/Elverta)
3rd Thursday of Each Month, 5:30pm at the Rio Linda Parks and Rec Center, 810 Oak Lane

Zone 4 (New Foothill Farms)
4th Thursday of Each Month, 6:00pm at Foothill Jr. High School, 5001 Diablo Dr.

Zone 5 (Old Foothill Farms)
2nd Wednesday of every OTHER month, 6:30pm at Pioneer Elementary School, 5816 Pioneer Way

Having witnessed each of the above meetings, I personally feel they are an opportunity for us to share invaluable information. Often times we are unaware of a particular problem, but with the assistance of the community, we are able to locate, address and hopefully permanently remove the problem for the community.

In addition to community meetings, we also attend many other important information sharing meetings with local merchants, Board of Supervisors and school functions. We recently acquired the use of a School Resource Officer through the Center High School District. While this officer primarily operates under the direct control of Center High School, he works alongside your POP Team during school breaks and is an invaluable resource on juveniles in the area.

In 2008, the POP Team arrested 1,268 suspects and issued citations to an additional 294. This does not include the efforts of the patrol officers assigned to your area, but merely a snapshot of some of the work being done by our team.

Your POP Team's hope for your community is that we can make it better with your continued assistance. The entire team works together to provide all of our communities a safer environment and personal service.

POP Complaint e-mail: nwdsc@sacsheriff.com