Sheriff's Department Reports Significant Reduction in IB Crime in 2010

Capt. David Myers with the San Diego County Sheriff's Imperial Beach Patrol Station presented its year-end crime report to the City Council on Wednesday evening.

"I am proud to say that in any sheriff's jurisdiction in the county of San Diego, Imperial Beach for the past three years, especially this year, has seen the largest decrease in crime."

Myers reported a 50 percent decrease in robberies and a 32 percent decrease in auto theft. There was also a "huge" 28 percent decrease in aggravated assault cases. Aggravated assault cases are mostly associated with domestic violence, and the department had to come up with a solution to break the cycle of domestic violence in the city, he said.

The IB station is working with South Bay Community Services to provide a community-based approach to break that cycle, he said, cautioning that changes won't happen overnight, but the numbers already show a significant improvement.

"Partnering with this organization, we have now established a domestic violence response team where we bring out the practitioners to these cases to deal with the core issue in that family to break that cycle," he said.

The property crime rate in 2010 decreased 19 percent, Myers said. 

He said much of this goes back to the city's vision of redevelopment and zoning laws implemented by the council and the impact that has on property crimes. Myers said code enforcement also has a direct effect on the quality of life and calls of service the department has to respond to, that eventually reflects crimes in the neighborhoods.

"You as a council are a direct result to the crime rates that have gone down significantly for the city, significantly more than the region as a whole in San Diego County," he said.

"We are now coming out with more drug-related arrests," Myers said, "a result of responding to fewer crime calls, giving officers the ability of more time to be proactive and go out and look for more drug-related crimes."

Narcotics-related arrests increased 29 percent in 2010 within city limits but there was a 14 percent increase in driving under the influence.

Crime data indicates this is not an increase in crime, but, rather, greatly increased specialized law enforcement operations in the city and the Border Crime Suppression Team and Homeland Security's Operation Stonegarden.

Myers said one of his responsibilities is the sheriff's order enforcement strategy. He said Imperial Beach is "the tip of the spear" in this program, as you do not get any closer to what he considers a federal problem—the immigration issue. Additional resources in the city are in place with the program receiving $25 million in federal grants since 2008.

Myers said there is a formula the city adopted as to expectations of how many deputies in traffic, cop beats, how many detectives and patrol deputies are in service, and he expects numbers to continue to decrease.

"When you do anything to mess with that formula you can get behind the curve. Right now you are in a perfect position, ahead of that curve and in position to stay ahead of it," he said.

He said the Sheriff's Department is undergoing a citizen's survey and plans on reevaluating with another survey in a year.

"To us, actual versus what is perceived, there is no difference," he said. "If there are things we can do through crime prevention techniques, neighborhood watch, business watch, crime prevention through environmental design, if we can do that through community perception we have then actually changed, in their mind, the fear of crime."

Cognizant of the current state budget crisis, Myers said the prisoner alignment program brings up several questions, such as who is paying for it and parolee placement.

"Offenders have to come back to the counties in which they offended, so if they come back, who is going to monitor them because state parole has been cut?" he said. "We are very proactive on ensuring we have everybody up to speed on who to look for and where to look for them."

He said the Community Oriented Police and Problem Solving Program (COPPS, eliminated mid-2010 for budget reasons), the Community Service Officers and Operation Allied Shield all contributed to the success in reduction of crime rates and effectiveness of the department's ability to respond.

"The Community Service Officers are very valuable to us," he said. "Just from an economic standpoint you do not have to pay the higher cost of a deputy when they can go out and take traffic reports, direct traffic, non in-custody reports and assist us during an arrest in collecting information from other persons at the scene."

Operation Allied Shield, a county program, targets street gangs involved in across-border crimes, producing "very good results."

Tip the Scale is another proactive enforcement opportunity where practitioners go with the Sheriff's Department to probationer's houses, most of them having previous under the influence charges.

If they are under violation of probation, they have two choices: jail or going into treatment right away with the help of the practitioner. This helps break the cycle of having to respond to calls, said Myers.

Mayor Jim Janney said he was impressed with the numbers the report reflects. Myers said moving forward, he encourages the council to keep the "formula" and added that everyone is doing well working together.

"You are able then to address a lot of the issues up front, free the resources and continue to be proactive," Myers said. "Getting the community-based organizations involved, you start getting very strategic about where you send your resources and what your calls for service are. Right now, when we talk about calls for service, the No. 1 location in Imperial Beach is the Skate Park."

He said the levels of calls are different: helmet laws, fighting. But the level of calls shows that it is important to the people who live around that area. This community feedback helps in implementing a strategy for that area. It is a matter of prioritizing resources, he said.

Related content: San Diego County Sheriff's Department 2010 Annual Report, "A Year in Review"