Community Corner
Sheriff Targets Rural Crime In Anza, Aguanga With Approved Grant
This uptick in crime directly results from narcotics & marijuana trafficking & sales, according to Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco.
MURRIETA, CA —Criminal activity in the rural communities of Aguanga and Anza and other outlying communities will be curtailed soon, Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco hopes, thanks to a grant awarded to that department.
On Tuesday, the Riverside County Board of Supervisors authorized Bianco to accept a $150,000 federal grant intended to support law enforcement operations in those mountainous, rural towns.
As it stands, only two deputies from the Hemet station are currently assigned to patrol the area, according to Bianco. Those deputies are also responsible for additional unincorporated areas.
"This grant (will enable) the sheriff's department to deploy deputies on overtime ... to conduct high-visibility patrols," he wrote in a letter to the board.
The U.S. Bureau of Justice Assistance's Rural Violent Crime Reduction grant was awarded to the sheriff last fall. All funds must be spent by October 2024.
Of the rural communities plagued by crime, Aguanga and Anza have also been impacted by higher rates of homicide and assault over the last five years.
The Anza Valley east of Temecula and south of Hemet has been the focus of prior sheriff's raids to take down illegal outdoor grows.
In 2020 there were eight incidents resulting in homicides at indoor and outdoor cannabis cultivation sites within the sheriff's jurisdiction. In 2021, the sheriff's department conducted multiple investigations in the Aguanga, Anza and Sage areas that have resulted in the discovery of thousands of marijuana plants.
Read: 7 People Shot Dead Near Temecula: Organized Crime Suspected
"This uptick in crime directly results from narcotics and marijuana trafficking, sales and cultivation plaguing the rural communities," the agency said.
The Anza Valley contains an estimated 2,000 to 3,000 illicit cannabis grows, some in locations that cannot be accessed except by all-terrain vehicles, according to the sheriff's department.
With just a population of 3,100 in Anza and the smaller Aguanga home to an estimated 800 residents, according to available U.S. Census data, deputies will start conducting
"high-visibility patrols."
Deputies will seek proactive efforts to identify parolees and probationers in the area, especially those previously convicted of violent crimes," the sheriff's department said.
Once identified, there will be frequent parole and probation checks, along with state parole officers and county probation officers.
"Overtime will also be used to fund sweeps within Anza and Aguanga."
Personnel assigned to the sheriff's Hemet station will be handling the operations funded by the grant.
City News Service contributed to this report.
Read also:
