Posted by cyd evans I saw an officer talking on a cell phone while driving a marked car yesterday. Don’t the same rules apply to police officers as the general public regarding only using hands free devices? Dear cyd evans, Police officers are to abide by the same rules of the road as citizens. However, there are some exceptions to these rules – for instance, when talking on a cell phone while driving, California Vehicle Code Section 23123 (d). This section does not apply to an emergency services professional using a wireless telephone while operating an authorized emergency vehicle, as defined in Section 165, in the course and scope of his or her duties. This translates to, if the offi

Posted by MartinM Hi,I suspect that my friend Is using drugs,I am almost sure he is using some kind of drugs.Should I report him? After all I am not 100% sure,but he has had some problems before. Thank you. Dear MartinM, It sounds like you have some concerns about your friend using drugs. You may be right. Have you discussed this with your friend? He may need help and police involvement may not be the best route. Your friend may need some intervention from friends and family. There are many drug and alcohol clinics in Sacramento and in the outlying region where your friend may seek help. If your friend is selling drugs or furnishing the drugs to others, then you should call the police

Posted by dram13 Hello, I went out Friday night with some friends and had a bit too much to drink. We took a taxi from the bar and the next day I find out from my bank that over $700 was taken from my account. I had zero money in my wallet and it was shown that money taken out from multiple ATMS before I got home. There are three possibilites I see happening. A) I was guided by the people I was with to take money out while I was intoxicated B) People took my password and card out of my wallet while I was asleep and took money out C) Taxi driver did either A or B. I know that under the law if a girl is intoxicated and a male sleeps with her, it can be considered rape since she was not in

Sacramento, CA | Busy morning Downtown commute interrupted Tuesday morning when a vehicle crashed into a building. Close to 7:30 Tuesday morning, the busy downtown commute was interrupted when a woman driving east on J Street, reportedly felt sick and passed out behind the wheel. Her vehicle hopped the curb and crashed into "Patino Building" at 1010 J St. The driver was transported to hospital via paramedics.

Posted by cherylwin Can I complete a restraining order on someone without providing my location? This is a person who was in prison for kidnapping me years ago and is now free and off parole as of yesterday. Dear cherylwin, It must be unnerving for you knowing that the man who once victimized you is out. Here’s what you should do. His parole agent should have already put those conditions on his parole prior to getting out of prison. You may want to call Parole and make sure the condition to stay away from you was added. He must only know your name and you don’t need to supply your address. If you see the man anywhere near you, call the police. If he attempts to contact you via telephone

Some thieves steal cars, others rob banks. In Sacramento, the big-ticket item lately is copper wire, and local copper thieves have hit the central city hard. Why steal copper wire? “Because it’s easily accessible,” said Sacramento Police Department spokesman Sgt. Andrew Pettit Thursday, “and there is plenty of it.” With miles of copper wire found in streetlights, electrical boxes, buildings and vacant foreclosed homes – places thieves won’t usually be deterred by watching eyes – copper wiring is easy pickings. And, at roughly $2.75 per pound, copper theft can be a lucrative business. According to a recent district letter from City Councilman Rob Fong’s office, copper wire thieves hit

Posted by Jib916 Good Morning Michelle. I had a question regarding how you plan on handling the occupiers/campers camping in front of best buy and other big box retail stores for black Friday. If Sacramento has a no tent policy, isn’t it only fair that these peoples camping equipment shall be confiscated, just like the protesters? After all the law is the law. Any response would be greatly appreciated. Thank You Justin Buell Dear Justin, The “no tent” policy you are speaking about refers to occupying a camping space on city/county property. When people camp in front of stores in anticipation for stores to open or to get prime tickets at a box office, they are occupying space on priva

Posted by ron_lopez2011 Please extend my personal thanks to the officers involved in the arrest of Rasaan Zawadi. I hope you get his accomplices too. That story just bugged me to the core; thank you for what you guys do. Dear ron_lopez2011, Thank you Ron! For those of you who aren’t familiar with Rasaan Zawadi, he was one of two bullies who were shown in a viral video taunting and punching a handicapped woman in front of a South Sacramento store. Zawadi was seen harassing and punching the female victim several times. Another suspect, 19-year-old Donnell Wade, who was seen punching the female in the face and knocking her out, was also arrested for the crime. According to a recent press

Posted by ted bas Greetings! I enjoy reading these archive articles. Thanks. In my neighborhood, I suspect 3 individual who are, I believe, are in constant plans to rob empty home. One of them daily eye on certain vehicles which would have left their residence. I believes he communicates this to his partner and then determines who else is left behind on a house they plan to steal from. Yesterday I went out to the area where he usually observes. when he saw me, we walked away like guilty for some reason. Today, he is out there but in a more secluded area, eyeing or in a look out for some vehicle while he talks to his friend in the cell phone. Need your advice. I am willing to help to preve

Occupy Sacramento participants once again stood their ground at Ceasar Chavez Park in Downtown Sacramento. At midnight, an hour after the park is officially closed, dispersal orders were given and 4 (including one in a wheel chair) were arrested peacfully. 

Gather up your expired and unneeded prescription medicines and bring them to the Public Safety Center at 5770 Freeport Blvd. from 10:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m. this Saturday for safe disposal. The Sacramento Police Department, for the third time, is offering a collection site as part of the DEA’s National Take Back Day. According to the DEA’s website, “More than 376,593 pounds (188 tons) of unwanted or expired medications [were turned in] for safe and proper disposal” this past April. There are many reasons to participate in this important program, including limiting access to children. According to the DEA’s website, “Studies show that a majority of abused prescription drugs are obtained

Posted by logsmom08 Hi Officer Michelle! I am a renter in the Sacramento area. I live in a duplex and share the other half of the house with someone who has a ‘medical card’. My neighbors and I share a garage wall in our duplex and I am assuming that they smoke in their garage because when I walk in my garage, the stink about knocks me over. Do I have any rights to ask them to stop smoking in the garage or anywhere where I and my family can smell or be effected by it? Dear logsmom08, The best thing you can do about that is to speak with your landlord. Some landlords have their renters sign a marijuana smoking clause now. The law about smoking marijuana regardless if it is for medicinal

Posted by neighborwatch Hi Michelle, We recently had new neighbors move in the house behind ours. They have a few dogs, 2 of which are large pit bulls. The first thing we noticed were the dogs barking for extended periods of time, all hours of the night. The tenants are home, but seem to ignore the barking. Recently we’ve witnessed 3 instances where the largest dog is attacking the other dogs/other possible animals in their backyard. Vicious attacks which leave their deck stained with blood. The most recent incident involved the woman trying to separate the dogs, and she was thrown to the floor and screaming. I called 911 as I felt her life was in danger. Unfortunately I don’t know what

Posted by GARYA73 Is it illegal to video record an on-duty peace officer?   Dear GARYA73, In the State of California, it is legal to video tape a peace officer, if you are in public and have a legal right to be there. You must not impede the officer in any way while they are in the course of his/her duties. If a crime scene has been established, members of the public may not cross it, even to film. This may lead to contaminating evidence within the crime scene. This happens all the time. Everyone has a camera phone or a video recorder and officers are constantly being scrutinized. The other issue is that people often post their videos on social media networks. I am of the philosophy

The Sacramento Police Department conducted a 90-day “Hot Spot” study that has shown to reduce crime. During the period between February 8, 2011 and May 8, 2011, police used evidence-based policing by combining research with local crime data to create effective crime-reducing strategies. Two different areas of the city were examined; Downtown and East Sacramento. Police identified 42 “hot spots”, or street segments which generated a high amount of calls for service. Often these calls were associated with violent crimes. Of the 42 “hot spots”, 21 were randomly designated as treatment areas, in which officers proactively spent 15-minute periods each day. Within this time frame officers took

Sacramento city and county were awarded a total of $19.4 million in federal funding grants Wednesday – enough to put 25 police officers and 25 sheriff’s deputies back to work for the next three years. The Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) Hiring Program is a competitive grant program through the U.S. Department of Justice that provides funding to state and local law enforcement agencies to hire, rehire, or retain police officers. This year, 2,712 law enforcement agencies requesting more than $2 billion to fund the hiring of 8,999 officers were considered for COPS Hiring Program funding, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. Selection for awards was based on an applicant

Posted by gigglebabe this may be silly but need some info My daughter looking for summer work decided to place a ad on craigs list. she received a replay from a guy and said he needed a personal assistant she was all caught up in making her on money she said she would do what ever it was he needed long story short her first task was to take these money orders and cash them , then western union the money, thought it was weird but told her the bank or post office would be able to tell if they were fake well they were, i just want to know that she wont be in trouble for taking them to the post office (they kept them and said they would be turned over to the investigators) and should we conta

Posted by Rocky427 We’ve own our home for 4 years and know almost all our neighbors very well. We get along with almost all our neighbors. The homeowners that lives across the street are a very kind and elderly couple who has 2 or 3 adult sons (in their late 30s to early 50s) that live with them. We’ve said “hello” to the family in passing, and has never had any problems with them. We’ve seen the police at that house late at night occasionally, and learn that there are problems between the family members. Last month, one of the sons (who is in his 50s) was pacing in front of his house. As we were coming back from our walk, he became very paranoid. He wanted to know why we were talking a

Posted by kvv2002 I have a friend who recently broke up with her ex and she would like to get her stuff back out of his mother’s house. Both the mother and son are being uncooperative and all my friend wants is her stuff. How can she go about getting her items, if they are unwilling and ‘playing games’? Dear kvv2002, This is a pretty common dilemma. She can either set up a meet time which is convenient for her ex and his mother to get your belongings or she can take the her ex to small claims court to get her belongings. The latter may be a long and expensive process but she could mention it if she gets resistance. Depending on what possessions were left there, it may not be worth the

The new cameras that were installed at several Sacramento light rail stations in May have helped prevent crimes and improve passenger safety, according to Doug Voska, a Sergeant with the Sacramento Police Department. “People want to feel safe when they ride transit,” said Voska, who has a contract position with RT. “If they don’t feel safe, they’re not gonna do it.” Because the cameras were primarily funded by the federal Department of Homeland Security, their main focus must be on terrorism prevention. But according to Voska, this has many crossover benefits when it comes to crime prevention and passenger safety. “Even without a uniformed police officer, somebody is keeping an eye on t