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Saturday's Internet Edition, July 04, 2009.
SSD South Bureau officers introduced to RM community
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Photo by Wendy Smith
Sacramento County sheriffs who serve in the South Bureau hold an event for Rancho Murieta residents on Tuesday, Nov. 18 at the RM Community Services District building.
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By Wendy Smith
River Valley Times Staff
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In late Oct. Rancho Murieta officially became a part of the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department South Bureau. On Tuesday, Nov. 18, the deputies of the South Bureau held a meet-and-greet event for residents at the Rancho Murieta Community Services District building.
Out in force, the deputies were available to answer any questions and address the concerns of community members as the residents make their transition into RM. They also offered a table full of informational pamphlets ranging in topic from a list of the officers in charge of various areas to safety tips, Neighborhood Watch information and much more. The officers were enthusiastic, greeting residents with smiles and offering cookies and refreshments.
Lieutenant Rosie Enriquez, commander of the South Bureau, expressed her excitement at being involved with Rancho Murieta. “We are very oriented to the community. Every officer who is serving in the South Bureau chose to be here - we were not assigned. So we’re here with Rancho Murieta because we want to be, and I think that residents will notice a vast improvement in our presence in the area,” she said.
Sergeant Greg Hanks echoed Enriquez' sentiment, adding that the group of officers serving RM is extremely experienced. “We have a leadership team with over 100 years of combined experience between us. We are very well rounded in our experience and look forward to being available to residents,” he said.
Included in the South Bureau is detective Marc Warren who worked as a deputy for the South Bureau on the graveyard shift after the tragic shooting of Deputy Jeffrey Mitchell. He left the South Bureau in order to be promoted to detective, but jumped at the chance to return when he discovered there was an opening. “I have family in the area, and so I have a connection to this place. I am very happy to be back,” said Warren.
He also said that residents should see more sheriff presence because Rancho Murieta is now one of the larger communities in the bureau as compared to the Central Division where there were larger towns with more complicated problems competing for law enforcement officers’ time.
As of now, Steve Goins, office manager for the South Bureau, will be in the RM office on Mondays and Wednesdays, splitting his time between RM and the Walnut Grove office. While Goins may not be physically present in RM, he wants to assure community members that he will be as available as possible.
The hope is that community volunteers will be able to staff the RM office so that it can remain open five days a week. Hanks, who works overnight, also added that he plans to be available during some day hours if people want to reach him.
CSD Security Chief Greg Remson believes that this will be a good thing for the community. “They’re here. They’re making a point to be available. I think that residents will be pleased with the increased presence,” he said.
Lieutenant Enriquez also talked about the various ways that the South Bureau hopes to be involved in the community. “One of our projects is to visit the elementary schools in order to develop positive relationships with the kids in the area,” said Enriquez. “Often officers can seem frightening to young children, or they have a negative perception because of something that might have happened with a parent. We want to make sure they know they can trust us.”
Overall, Enrique said that the goal is to create a partnership with the community as a whole. “We really want people to feel that they can count on us and can connect with us. Of course, the more community cooperation that we can get, the better job that we can do. So we look forward to community support as well,” she said.
Residents have already commented on seeing more presence in the area, and the South Bureau wants to make sure that current positive feeling lasts. “We are here because we want to be, and I think that the community will see that,” said Enriquez.
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