President Rob introduced Ron Linthicum. Ron has been here many times before as the community prosecutor for the with the Sacramento County District Attorney’s office. Ron is in charge of triaging all of the community crimes and homelessness issues. With Ron is Captain Matt Warren, Commander, North Division and Lieutenant Laurel Girdlestone, Operations Lieutenant for the North Division.
Ron thanked the club for having him back. He considers our club to be great partners and friends here in the community. Ron wanted to let Tyler Johnson know that Ron’s dad was a salesman for over sixty years and he gave Ron some great advice when he was young. He said that whatever you do in life, the essence of it is salesmanship. This is surely true. Ron “sells” the truth to every jury he comes before.
Ron shared a story of how he came to know that Rotary was a great organization. About thirty years ago he met a woman, fellow prosecutor, she was very alluring, she became his fiancé, later his wife and later his ex-wife. They are friends again. She is now the elected District Attorney in Solano County. They both started out as prosecutors and they would go and speak to the Rotary Club in Visalia where they started. They liked he so much that they sent her to Australia for a month for this program for professional development and a speaking tour. They were very impressed with the generosity of the Rotarians. Ron thanked Rotary for getting her out of his life for a month.
Business Watch: This program targets the high crime locations and establish a business watch. They meet monthly with the businesses to get each business to utilize the 602 Trespass program. The Sheriff is on board with doing it. It has had a great impact, improving certain high crime areas. The newest PBID that is forming on Arden and Howe started off as a business watch. This is going to have a big impact on the community. They will be able to employ armed security that can issue trespass notices as a supplement to the Sheriff’s Office. There is also a business watch that started as a result of the problem located at Howe and Fair Oaks. It is looking like that business watch may end up forming another PBID.
Captain Warren noted that he usually gets to speak at the pancake palace or Denny’s so this is high society for him. He gave a little information about the North Division where he has been captain for about a year. It has 230 sworn and profession employees. They are understaffed at about 72% of what is needed to operated properly. Changes are coming to the patrol structure based upon the direction given by the new County Sheriff. The changes will result in more officers on patrol in the community. The Homeless Outreach Team (HOT) and Problem Oriented Policing (POP) programs will still be understaffed but will be staffed at better levels than they are now. This will help address the homeless problems facing our community.
Bruce Stimson thanked Ron and Matt for all their hard work, especially for cleaning up Alta Arden Expressway. Ron noted that it was Captain Warren that made it happen and his philosophy is to not give up ground that has been taken. Thanks to Supervisor Desmond, the different county departments that can play a role in solving these problems are now talking with each other and coordinating their efforts more than they have in the past. It isn’t perfect yet but it is getting better.
Q: Can you tell us something about the Governor’s efforts to force the mentally ill into treatment centers?
A: Everyone has noticed there are lot of homeless individuals with mental problems. If the person was on drugs, it used to be they could arrest them on a felony offense and give them the option of jail or treatment programs Now, drug arrests are misdemeanors and the treatment option is no longer a tool available to law enforcement until after the tenth offense Presently the only tool they have to deal with the mentally ill is conservatorship. In Ron’s career, only one time has that worked to get help for an individual. This person burned down one building and was about to do it again and that is what it took to get the courts to uphold the conservatorship. Care Court is too new to know if it will work.
Q: I heard about the case where the individual gets his ten citations and then goes to court and the judge throws out the case. What can you tell us about this case? What are you doing to educate the judges?
A: Before the program was implemented it was put together with the help of the judges. That was the first form of education for them. Now when a judge fails to properly implement the program presiding judge takes the noncompliant judge aside and educates him/her as to the how the program is supposed to work according to the adopted bail schedule. The Sheriff is committed to having 100 beds to house these individuals.
Q: What is your working relationship with the Sacramento Police Department?
A: We have a great working relationship with them. Their efforts are severely hampered due to the polices of the city. This was one of the problems the County faced with the camp at Fair Oaks and Howe. That is city property and the county did not have jurisdiction.
Q: Are the rules different in the county than in the city for moving individuals off of the sidewalks and from in front of businesses?
A: The rules are the same as established by Martin v. Boise, it is the interpretation of the rules that differ from the city and the county. The county is more willing to internet the rules more conservatively and is willing to be taken to court over their interpretation, the city is not. The city and the county both agree on the protection of critical infrastructure. The Alta Arden cleanup was justified because a homeless pedestrian was killed stepping out of his camp and into traffic. The county might get sued based on the justification but they are willing to take that chance.
Q: Why is California disproportionately impacted by the Boise ruling?
A: People go where there are services and their needs can be met. Not many homeless want to camp in the middle of nowhere because they need access to food and water. If it wasn’t for the support of Supervisor Desmond, it is doubtful that Alta Arden would have gotten cleaned up. The tide is starting to turn. Ron shared that Phill Serna, as liberal a supervisor as there can be, has had enough with the homeless and the way they are taking advantage of the Boise law and creating the mess the public has to deal with.
The best way for businesses to combat the negative affects of homelessness is to make- sure that access to water, electricity and wifi is eliminated from your property. If there are homeless on your private property call the (916) 874-5115 non-violent sheriff dispatch number and report it. It is also important to trim your bushes down low so people cant hide behind them and your trees up so people can see under them.
Q: What are the plans for the warehouse the county purchased to address the homeless issues?
A: There are no present plans for the warehouse. Eventually they hope to develop it into homeless units to house individuals. RV parking would be around the outside of the building. The building has a very sophisticated security fence all the way around it.
The Prez thanked Ron and Matt for the informative presentation.
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