News

From today’s Natomas Update e-mail from Sacramento Police Department’s Capt. Hahn:

(120007) 4/22/09 @ 1:52 am, 3320 Witter Wy (Sump 17), Citations, Gateway West
A concerned citizen called in regarding 6-7 subjects up at Sump 17 late at night wearing hoodies. Officer Hanson and Nezik responded and detained 6 juveniles. They were all cited for being in the park after dark and one was cited for possessing marijuana. They were transported home. Great job in calling in suspicious activity at this location that has had issues in the past – Keep it up!!

We asked for further information about this latest catch, and Officer Hanson provided the following:

I was the initial officer on scene. I actually snuck up on the suspects and was able to observe them prior to them ever realizing I was there. The suspects were only there to smoke marijuana, no vandalism or other criminal actions intended.

Additionally, all of the subjects were from Natomas, but quite spread out. None of them lived in the Witter Ranch Community Association boundaries, but some were within a very reasonable distance . . . As I understood from talking to the suspects, they chose this park because it was visible from the road (making it a possible choice because it is fresh in their mind), somewhat secluded, and due to the fact that they would not be in danger of being a victim of a violent crime at that location. As discouraging as it is to hear that suspects are committing crimes in your park, it was encouraging to hear that part of the reason is because they know the park is safe.

None of the suspects were affiliated to any gang. I am actually very interested in gang activity and gang affiliation, so I am always looking for any possible nexus between suspects I contact and gang involvement. None of these individuals had any obvious association with any gang set (or affiliation on record). I asked some specific questions and looked for some particular items/paraphernalia/colors and did not notice anything to lead me to believe that gang activity was occurring.

Additionally, only two of the six suspects were minors. The two minors were transported home and delivered to their parent. None of the youth had any major criminal involvement in the Sacramento area. A few of the suspects had no criminal record at all within the city.

All suspects were cited for loitering in a park after hours. One suspect was cited for misdemeanor possession of marijuana (less than an ounce).

The suspects who were not transported home arrived in a single vehicle. I actually followed the vehicle out of the neighborhood, assuring that it would not become an issue again that morning. . .

Indeed, this is encouraging news on a number of levels. First and foremost, we have another example of how our community is extremely diligent about protecting our neighborhoods and our park resources. We also have another example of the responsiveness of our police department, particularly the very proactive graveyard shift teams. Finally, we have feedback from the people who were caught in the park that they chose the site because they themselves feel safe there.

We also delivered a strong message to these guys — Stay out of our neighborhoods and our parks after dark, and quit smoking weed in our parks. We’re watching and we will not hesitate to contact our police department to enforce the law.

By Keith Sharward, Co-Founder and Board Member

After a very rough number of weeks in which Sump 17 — and much of Gateway West and Park View for that matter — were subjected to extreme amounts and types of graffiti, much of which was related to one of Sacramento’s most notorious street gang organizations, it is my pleasure to report a monthlong reprieve from graffiti in our neighborhoods.

Though speculative, I believe our association’s efforts to educate our fellow neighbors about the criticality of timely reporting of graffiti to our city’s 3-1-1 call enter for action, city graffiti abatement and maintenance staff responding quickly and decisively to the concerns, neighbors in the area of Shrike Circle maintaining a diligent watch on the property, and numerous proactive and reactive responses from our police department to deal aggressively with illegal after-dark loitering in the park, all have contributed to this positive trend.

I don’t think we should declare an outright victory on the issue just yet — it’s probably too soon for that, as there have still been observations of possible narcotics activity in our parks over the past week or two… But we’re definitely moving in the right direction.

The war to protect our neighborhoods from these infuences isn’t over, but I think it’s safe at this point to say that we have won this latest battle, and I thank everyone who has participated. Whether in a big way by hitting the pavement on outreach efforts and participating in last month’s overnight stakeout of Sump 17, or in a small way by calling 3-1-1 quickly to report a tag sighting, all of your efforts in aggregate translate to a strong statement to the punks and thugs responsible for these acts that we are NOT a neighborhood that will tolerate it.

I have always believed that, in a crisis, you learn who your real friends are. Well, I think our neighborhood recently found itself in a graffiti crisis and we definitely made some new friends and reinforced some of our existing ones.

There are still some loose ends to tie up. We need to follow up with the city on recommendations to increase security at Sump 17 with better lighting and other items. There’s still more outreach opportunity in the areas around our parks. So I hope that we can use this recent win not as an excuse to rest, but rather, to motivate us to do more. We need to stockpile for the next battle per se — our weapon of choice is people: paying attention, spreading the word, reporting suspicious activities and after-dark park occupation to police and each other, and reporting vandalism to 3-1-1.

And the coolest part of that is… We make new friends in the process.

Witter Ranch Community Alliance and the Sacramento Police Department are partering to invite Gateway West and Park View residents to a free Neighborhood Watch kickoff meeting on Thursday, March 12 from 6 PM to 8 PM at Round Table Pizza in the Market West Shopping Center, 3290 Arena Blvd., Suite 600.

Officer Kurt McCray, Crime Prevention Specialist with the Sacramento Police Department for all of Natomas, will be leading this important meeting to educate residents about the benefits of an effective Neighborhood Watch program for Gateway West and Park View. This is a special and unique opportunity to have as many of our neighbors as possible attend so that we can all get to know and learn from one another.

One of Witter Ranch Community Alliance’s goals is to “assist in development and facilitation of neighborhood watch groups.” We have already begun an active outreach and Neighborhood Watch group around San Juan Reservoir Park, especially in the southern area nearest Sump 17 that has been prone to numerous crime problems. Those problems have, at least for the time being, been largely eliminated, primarily due to the watchful eyes and proactive actions of the residents in the area, so we know it works.

Please join us, and be sure to spread the word to your neighbors as well — we encourage you to print copies of this flyer and distribute them to the people you know on your street.

At its general meeting on Monday, November 24, WRCA members voted to draft a letter and circulate a petition among residents in the vicinity of Witter Ranch Park to request that the city’s Parks & Recreation Department immediately and permanently shut off the field lights at the park.

The field lights at Witter Ranch Park have been a concern of residents in our neighborhood from the moment they were first introduced. They were installed over the strong objections of residents in the area several years ago, prior to the neighborhood being represented by our community association. People who live on the park’s perimeter or in its vicinity have reported numerous problems at the park over the years, especially on evenings that the field lights are in use.

At only 9 acres, Witter Ranch Park appears to be the smallest park in the entire city of Sacramento that includes field lights. Unlike 10+ acre community parks that typically feature plenty of parking and other amenities suitable for hosting events for people outside the immediate neighborhood, most in attendance at the meeting believe that Witter Ranch Park lacks sufficient parking, and is too close to homes for field lights to be compatible with the neighorhood.

The draft of the letter is posted for review and neighborhood comment. Residents of the Gateway West and Park View neighborhoods are invited to send feedback to Keith [at] WitterRanchCommunity [dot] com no later than Saturday, December 12.