Sheriff: Area commands promote trust and safety

By Adam Christianson

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"The police are the public and the public are the police; the police are only members of the public who are paid to give full-time attention to duties, which are incumbent on every citizen in the interests of community welfare and existence"

-- Sir Robert Peel, 1829

When I became sheriff, it was clear that our top priority is to keep our families and neighborhoods safe. And thanks to the people of a great department, law enforcement agencies throughout the county, and our collaboration with neighborhood groups, we have been successful in reducing crime.

The crime rate in the unincorporated area of Stanislaus County and contract cities -- where we're responsible for public safety -- is at its lowest level in two decades. Auto theft has decreased. Crime in Riverbank is at its lowest levels since the department took over law enforcement services. Waterford's crime rate is the lowest since 1999. Hughson has the lowest crime rate in Stanislaus County.

But threats to our community's safety such as gangs, the methamphetamine industry and neighborhoods blighted by crime, are still here. We need to continue making progress. To that end, the Sheriff's Department has been re-organized to put community policing into effect throughout the County.

Community policing has two principles: community partnerships and problem-solving to proactively and rigorously address crime.

To better serve all citizens, we de-centralized. We created four area commands. Each has its own personnel, including command staff and support staff. Three of our area commands are based in contract cities: Patterson, Riverbank and Waterford. The Sheriff's Operations Center is the base for Central Area Command.

This model is used by sheriff's departments throughout California as an effective way to respond to public safety needs. Working in the same area of the county is an opportunity to know the community, develop relationships and to confront individuals who victimize members of the community. Our hope is that our personnel will stay in area commands for longer periods.

Crime isn't just a police problem. It is a community problem that needs a community response.

That's why we're working with community groups in programs like Weed and Seed and the Gang Injunction Safety Zone. It's why we aggressively pursued the COPS grant in order to restore four community deputies to Salida, Denair, Keyes and Empire/Airport. We assigned a deputy to work in the Weed and Seed and Gang Injunction Safety Zone. We work with citizens to clean up the neighborhoods blighted by crime and neglect.

Crime flourishes when communities give up hope, as seen in trash-strewn streets and run-down houses. It is the broken windows theory of crime. Social psychologists and police officers tend to agree that if a window in a building is broken and left unrepaired, all the windows will soon be broken.

In 1969, Philip Zimbardo, a Stanford psychologist, arranged to have an automobile without license plates parked with its hood up on a street in New York City and a comparable car on a street in Palo Alto. Within 24 hours, everything of value had been removed from the car in the Bronx. The car in Palo Alto sat untouched for more than a week. Then Zimbardo smashed it with a sledgehammer. Soon, passersby were joining in. Within hours, the car had been destroyed.

When community controls break down, it takes more than just a heightened police response. We have to work together, block by block and neighborhood by neighborhood, to get at the causes of crime, so that one broken window does not become a gutted building.

Second, we need to strengthen existing partnerships between the department and the community that will allow us to sit together and problem solve. We have great people at the Sheriff's Department who are committed to working with all citizens.

Last, our department will change as an organization. It is critical that the Sheriff's Department build trust and confidence with you. That is why I have directed our deputies to get out of their cars, talk with people and help people solve the crime and quality of life issues in their neighborhoods. Building trust may take time but, in the long run, it is the only way to get long term results.

Christianson is sheriff of Stanislaus County.