Posted by livin.life My oldest daughter is looking to buy her first car. A couple of weeks ago someone told me there is an upcoming police auto auction. Is this true? If so, when and where are the police auto auctions held? How much is the minimum amount of money a person should have to purchase a vehicle? I just ran across this site - wow! - this is interesting! Thanks for your help. Dear livin.life, I spoke to our fleet manager who handles our police vehicles, both marked and unmarked. The Sacramento Police Department has a contract with the city who leases these vehicles. When the police department is finished with the cars, they are usually too beat up to sell.  We drive them an

Posted by JamesIsNot Happy Hello Officer Michelle, At the moment I’m not very happy; my home was burglarized last week. This week I’ve been busy implementing a number of new security measures, one of which is a very prominent “No Solicitors” sign. A solicitor just came to my door, and I accosted him about the sign. After a bit of verbal sparring, he responded with “I’m going to F*ck you up, and there is nothing you can do about it because my lawyer is bigger than your!”. I immediately called 911, was this the correct thing to do? The 911 dispatcher did nothing becuase the soliciter fled the scene. Is there anything I can do about this? I have flyer he was passing out that contains a c

Posted by DCaroll I had a Lexus a few years ago and the prior owner had tinted the front driver and passenger windows. My wife was pulled over while driving the car and was cited for the tinted windows. The ticket forced us to remove the tint and have an officer sign off. Ignoring it, I was told, would prevent us from registering the car. Has this law been changed? The reason I ask is because it seems every 5th car I see today has dark tinted front windows. I was next to a Corvette the other day in bright daylight and I couldn’t even see the outline of a driver, let alone if there was an actual person in there. How do they get away with it? Dear DCaroll, California Vehicle Code

Hello Officer Michelle, My concern is about a neighbor across the street. I frequently see him outside on his driveway, drinking beer and playing loud music with friends. I’m not shy to ask them to lower the volume and most times they comply. The issue I want to address is that they drive to the liquor store to get more alcohol when I know fully well that they have exceeded the legal alcohol limit based on the number of empty cans that strewn the driveway. Is this something I should report to the police? If so, how would I go about reporting a drunk driver if I do not know their location after they drive away from their home and when they return in only 15 minutes? Dear Cogsboy, Curren

Posted by R.G. Angel Dear Officer Michelle, I like to sleep with the windows slightly open in my room to allow fresh air in when I am sleeping. However, on garbage and recycle collection nights, I have been woken by the sounds of someone going through the recycle cans and collecting the cans and glass bottles. I am wondering if there is someone I can call to report this or someway to have this issue looked into to. Thanks, ~Angel Dear R.G. Angel, This is a common problem. If you live in the city limits, you can call the Police Department’s non-emergency number at 264-5471 and request an officer be dispatched. There is an ordinance that makes it illegal to rummage through recyclables.

Posted by bended knees i have written to you in the past of my ex husband and his wife drinking/driving /but most of all involving under age kids with their parties . even though cps checked them out my oldest kids are telling me he is still providing alcohol to under 21 . my 19 year old called me last week to let me know she found my 14 yr old son was drinking at a party at his dads house . along with others under age . Dear bended knees, There are several things you can do. It sounds as though there needs to be some long-term solutions to this matter. You can call Child Protective Services again about this problem. If this is still happening, it needs to be revisited. You may also cal

Michelle, I am a single female. I work in the downtown area and take public transportaion. I will also be living alone next month. I read and hear about a lot of crime in the Sacramento area. Sometimes I don’t feel safe. I saw a web-site that sells defense items such as pepper spray, stun guns, knives, Kubatons etc. What is legal to carry on the streets of Sacramento? Do you have any suggestions for a petite female at home and on the streets? Thank you. P.S. I will be on the first floor in an apartment. Alarms and a dog isn’t an option. Thankyou, Gayle Dear Gayle, Understanding the way females are socialized is the first step. Because women are often taught to be polite at an early ag

Dear Officer Michelle, What is the best way to report a misdemeanor - physical assault - but no serious injuries? Online crime report does not have classification for this.  Is there a number I can call and file a report ? I tried 264-5471, but that has a long list to options and automated system cuts off half of what I say. Thanks Sk Dear Sk First of all, if it was a violent crime-in-progress, you would call 911. It is often not determined until later whether an assault crime is a misdemeanor or a felony. If someone uses an object to hit someone, even if it is a garden hose, it can be interpreted in the law as an assault-with-a-deadly-weapon, which is a felony. If the assault occurred

Hello, My name is Keith and I was wondering where I would put in a complaint about police, highway, and sheriff officers that are violating protocol? This came to me when I was driving on Folsom Blvd and saw a Folsom Police officer sitting under the Metro light rail bridge with his lights off his bike and he was checking peoples speeds. Now the problem is not him checking speeds, but under the bridge was very dark and a driver could not see him until the last minute and this would be very harmful if a driver was in an accident and needed to utilize the shoulder at last possible second. Thank You, Keith Dear Keith, If you have a concern or complaint about an enforcement procedure or “pr

Dear Officer Michelle, me and my wife have been serperated for 6 months and she recently charged $268 to one of my accoumts that she is not on. its soley in my name. is there any thing i can do as far as her doing this behind my back without my permission. and is there anything i can do against the business for charging on my account to someone not listed on it? Sincerely, mooreritter Dear mooreritter, My advice to you would be to speak to your civil attorney. California is a community property state and until you divorce, you will have a community property situation. If you and your wife decide to divorce, bring this $268 charge to the attention of your attorney. You may be able to s

Dear Officer Michelle Hello, I currently live in the Natomas area and for the past few months a man has been placing Music CD’s in my truck bed and on my doorstep. Nothing has been broken into or damaged and I am not harmed in anyway. However, I am not going to lie, I am creeped out. I didn’t want to offend whom ever was placing the CD’s in my truck a few months back so I took them. Now I feel obligated to take them as to not offend and possibly make him mad or put myself or my family in some sort of danger if he is an unstable person. I was wondering if you had any advice about how to handle this situation, I am usually not home when he comes to my house so I have not been able to confro

Dear Officer Michelle,  If you guys could patrol Mid town Sacramento more it would be nice. please patrol more down town like 20TH K street and J street people speed through there all the time it not safe to even walk across the streets. Thank you, tj2007 Dear tj2007, We get a lot of requests for the intersections of 21st and K Street, and 19th and H Streets. We do patrol those intersection and our Traffic Section goes out there on traffic projects frequently. You can speak to a traffic enforcement officer by calling 808-6128. You may have to leave a message, but they will call you back. I will also forward your message to one of the traffic sergeants. Thank you for your post. Offic

Posted by Pbaptiste What can I stop this one relative from sending me porn pictures & videos via cell phone? I have asked them to quit doing that, but won’t and the cell phone companies do not have selective text messages blocking of a senders. Dear Pbaptiste, If you are asking me from a law enforcement perspective, I will tell you that your relative is in violation of the law. It sounds to me that you’ve tried the nice approach, and now it’s time to play hardball. You can tell your kin that they are in violation of 653m of the California Penal Code. This basically states that anyone using an electronic communications device to threaten or annoy someone is guilty of a misdemeanor under

Dear Officer Michelle, What is the best way for me to thank officers. I want to send a letter of thanks to the officers and their supervisor, with a bcc to the local newspapers. Is it appropriate to do that and name them, or could there be privacy concerns regarding the officers involved if I bcc the local papers? Thanks, billalbertson Dear billalbertson, Your desire to thank helpful officers is much appreciated. Unless they are working undercover, officer’s names are public information as seen on the name badges that are part of their uniforms! The best way to thank police officers is to send a letter to the chief (you may want to send copies to the officers and the press if desired).

Posted by mistycreek My daughter’s husband found an engagement ring on the street in Sacramento over a year ago (summer 2008). It did not appear to be a new ring, but it had been run over and scuffed. She put it on Craig’s List and received four inquiries with none of the four descriptions matching the ring she found. She asked me about it today (11-14-2009) and I suggested contacting Sac PD to determine if you had any lost property, theft or other crime reports involving an engagement ring dating from about the summer of 2008. She still has the ring. Nothing is engraved on it. Please advise or refer us to the appropriate section of your department. Thanks Dear mistycreek Your daugh

Posted by chriso I ride my bicycle around downtown alot. I just heard from a friend of mine that while he was riding his bike downtown an officer stopped him and told him to get off of the sidewalk and ride in the street. Are bicylists not allowed to ride on the sidewalk? I am not very comfortable riding in the street without a bike lane. Dear chriso, The truth of the matter is that the sidewalk is meant for pedestrians. In other words, it is illegal to ride on the sidewalks. Bicyclists must follow the same rules of the road as other “vehicles” and must ride as close as “practicable” to the right. Sacramento strives to be a bicycle friendly city with many bicycle routes, so people are e

Hello Officer Michelle, My concern is about a neighbor across the street. I frequently see him outside on his driveway, drinking beer and playing loud music with friends. I’m not shy to ask them to lower the volume and most times they comply. The issue I want to address is that they drive to the liquor store to get more alcohol when I know fully well that they have exceeded the legal alcohol limit based on the number of empty cans that strewn the driveway. Is this something I should report to the police? If so, how would I go about reporting a drunk driver if I do not know their location after they drive away from their home and when they return in only 15 minutes?   Dear Cogsboy, Cur

Posted by mhorrell My adult daughter was given a brownie at her workplace that was apparently made with marijuana Due to the severe affects she experienced after ingesting a small amount, we are concerned that it may have been laced with another drug as well. Is there any way we can bring the remaining brownies in to a police or sheriff station to have them tested? Dear mhorrell, Good grief! Talk about a hostile work environment! If your daughter knows the person who brought the brownies to work, she should confront the person and ask them what was in the brownies. If they admit that there was a harmful substance in the brownies, then your daughter could go forward and file a report. Sh

Posted by Sorren Hello officer Michelle, thanks for always answering my potentially pesky questions ;) I have another issue that has been bothering me a lot. As you of course know, some unfortunate kid got killed on campus a couple weeks ago. Three days before that, there were gunshots fired on my block in what I used to think was an upper-middleclass safe neighborhood. I don’t really feel safe anymore, and decided that I’m going to purchase a handgun immediately as soon as I can afford the one that I want. The issue is, that it’s not useful, if I can’t have access to it on a whim. I had my dad’s gun a few years ago when I lived in chicago. No CCW. So I had an unloaded, locked up pis

Dear Officer Michelle, I have seen allot of kids and young adults wearing white t-shirts and standing around on the street. A few times I have seen Police making arrests of some of these people in my neighborhood. Could you tell me what the white t-shirt represents? Doe’s it signal gang affiliation? Dear MCE, The long and short of it is that these young adults that are hanging around in the extra long, white T-shirts are usually gang affiliated. They do this for several reasons. The younger ones have a dress code at school and are unable to sport their “colors.” Wearing gang colors is also a way for law enforcement to validate them as gang members. They distinguish themselves by hair st