RANCHO MURIETA, CA (MPG) - The transition of Rancho Murieta from the Central Division to the East Division of the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office has become official following a little-noticed trial. 

The most notable improvement has been a 50% to 60% decrease in response times since deputies dispatched to the community come from Rancho Cordova instead of the South County.

East Division Commander Matthew Tamayo delivered the good news at a sheriff’s community meeting held at the RMA Building on Nov. 13, which drew only eight attendees. Other sheriff’s office speakers included two Problem-Oriented Police Officers, a service office manager, and a crime prevention specialist.

California Highway Patrol Officer Alan Stevens, a member of the Valley Division’s Community Response Team, also helped answer audience questions. One came from Rod Hart, the general manager of the Rancho Murieta Association, who described a serious speeding problem inside the gates.  Other audience questions concerned the local sheriff’s center, homelessness, and identifying sexual offenders who live in Rancho Murieta.

East Division

Tamayo explained that the sheriff’s East Division operates a joint command with the Rancho Cordova Police Department out of the same building. The East Division serves the unincorporated areas in the eastern county, and Rancho Cordova contracts with the Sheriff’s Office for police services inside the city limits. Tamayo, a captain with the sheriff’s office, is the East Division commander and chief of police for the Rancho Cordova Police Department. “So I have two titles, one job,” he said.  

Tamayo said the proposal to transition Rancho Murieta and Sloughhouse into the Eastern Division came from Capt. Vanessa Vaden, the South Division commander, about eight months ago. “The question was: ‘Why are deputies coming from so far away when your division is so much closer,” he recalled. 

After considering the positives, including the community’s low volume of calls, and the negatives, including an increased workload for the East Division, they quietly implemented a trial period in May.

Since the East Division began answering calls, “It has increased our workload by about 5%, which is something we could easily manage,” Tamayo said.

The main advantage for residents has been the decrease in response times. Asked to elaborate, Tamayo said that deputies are typically patrolling the East Division and aren’t coming from the police station when dispatched to a call in Rancho Murieta. “It depends on the time of day and the type of call because sometimes we come with lights and sirens,” he said. “I can’t give you the exact figure. But it is probably 50 to 60% better, and we are working on that.”

The trial period statistics also revealed a decrease in calls for service.  “This community has got to have the lowest calls for service in the entire county,” Tamayo remarked. 

Although Rancho Murieta has some property crime, which is always unacceptable, the numbers remain relatively low. “Overall this is a very safe community,” he said.

Asked about East Division patrol staffing, Tamayo said the top managers and supervisors - three lieutenants and six sergeants have double duties at both agencies. However, 24 patrol positions are solely dedicated to the East Division. Other staff includes two Problem-Oriented Police officers and a community service officer who deals with parking.

Speaking after the meeting, Tamayo said the transition into the East Division had only received official approval a week earlier.  The first component was securing approval from the Chief of Patrol Services. The second was “looking over the data over the course of an extended period of time to make sure it made sense,” he said.

POP officers

Deputy Joe Gordon and Sgt. Mike McCoy, both Problem-Oriented Police officers, shared some of their experiences inside the community. Gordon said residents have probably seen him “creeping around the community in his unmarked black car” in the four weeks he has been on the job. He has handled only one complaint in the Village. But when he “poked his head in at sheriff’s service center” inside the Rancho Murieta Community Services District Building, he learned about some graffiti at Calero Reservoir. He photographed it and sent it to the gang division.

Gordon told the audience that the easiest way to reach the POP program for a long-term public safety issue that affects residents in their day-to-day life would be to email [email protected]. 

Tamayo encouraged residents who see more urgent issues such as a suspicious person or a car to immediately notify the sheriff’s office. “You would be surprised how many cases we can solve or can intervene before something becomes a crime, based on citizen calls,” he said.

McCoy said a case in point was a recent call about a suspicious person hanging out by Tractor Supply. When a deputy contacted the man, he discovered he was wanted on seven warrants with $3.5 million bail.

“It was pretty petty stuff, all misdemeanors like drug possession and trespassing,” McCoy said. “I’m guessing that he missed court and really pissed off the judge.”

McCoy added that he would investigate a tip regarding a homeless encampment near the airport.

Sheriff’s volunteers

Tamayo and Lisa Gerber, who manages the Kilgore Service Center in Rancho Cordova, addressed the re-opening of the sheriff’s service center in Rancho Murieta. It is currently being operated by two Volunteers in Partnership with the Sheriff (VIPS) with a third in training.

Tamayo credited Vaden and Lt. Reid Harris with the South Division for bringing the program back to the community.

Two VIPS are presently working four hours every Monday, either taking reports or providing information inside the CSD office or patrolling the community. Gerber said they are recruiting more VIPS at 916-874-7339 or [email protected].

In the meantime, Rancho Murieta residents can phone the Kilgore Service Center to get help from volunteers to file online reports or answer questions. It is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m.  She also noted that the Rancho Murieta Service Center phone number, 916-875-2962, rolls over to the Kilgore Center when not answered. 

Kitman Likes, the crime prevention specialist for both entities, also introduced herself. She said she could help the community set up a Neighborhood Watch program. She also can process letters of agency for businesses. Once signed, the letter gives the sheriff’s office the authority to cite trespassers without the owner and manager being present.

Speeding 

Although General Manager Hart said he probably knew the answer, he asked Tamayo if deputies could provide some traffic enforcement behind the gates to help curb a serious problem with speeders. Tamayo deferred to Stevens because CHP handles traffic control in unincorporated areas.

Stevens said the general answer was  “no” because Rancho Murieta is a private community although CHP will respond to misdemeanors such as driving under the influence. However, when Stevens worked at the Placerville CHP office, he sometimes conducted traffic enforcement inside gated communities that had contracted with the CHP to provide that service with off-duty officers. Stevens offered to put Hart in contact with the right person.

Hart explained that after the association’s professional lidar cameras document violations, RMA can only issue citations to residents and their guests. The daunting problem is the other two-thirds of the speeding drivers over which the association has no jurisdiction. Those speeders are primarily contractors and vendors, particularly Amazon drivers. 

RMA compliance has been able to get speeding school buses to slow down, but Hart hasn’t had any success with Amazon. “From mid-January until now, there have been about 9,000 violations in our small little community with really excessive speeds,” Hart said.

Other questions

Audience member Mike Martel asked about homelessness, saying he believes it is moving into the community from Amador County and Sacramento. Tamayo said being in a private community has a silver lining. “If they come in here, we can remove them immediately,” he said.Tamayo also went into detail about Rancho Cordova’s collaborative approach to homelessness which seems to be more successful than those in other cities.

Martel also asked Tamayo about identifying sex offenders in the community. After checking an app on his phone, Tamayo said it showed three in the community. However, he said the best source would be the California Megan’s Law Website.