Police Protection at the Cellular Level

For those who complain that there’s never a law enforcement officer around when you need one, the city of San Marcos has an answer:

Dial a deputy.

Beginning Friday, selected San Diego County sheriff’s deputies assigned to the city will be no farther away than a phone call. That’s because their patrol cars will be equipped with cellular telephones.

Say you’re a San Marcos resident or business owner and you want to talk about some suspicious activity or a particular problem--just get the deputy on the line.

“We put the cellular phones in their cars so that the merchants and the citizens who need (the deputies) can talk to them directly when they have issues of a non-emergency nature,” Sheriff’s Lt. Scott McClintock said. “It makes the deputy more accessible.”

Calls will go directly to the patrol car, without being routed through a dispatcher or a receptionist in the business office.

The deputies with the phones will be assigned to “community-oriented-policing” duties, the latest trend in law enforcement that gives police officers a chance to get to know the people and problems on their beats.

“They serve as micro-managers of their sectors,” McClintock said. “They will direct the use of resources, surveillances, crime prevention and city ordinance enforcement.”

Callers with emergencies, McClintock stressed, should dial 911.

Mike Mistrot, assistant city manager for San Marcos, said the idea for the cellular phone patrols came out of meetings between city representatives and sheriff’s commanders during planning for the mid-October opening of a sheriff’s substation in San Marcos.

In those meetings, officials expressed concern that the deputies would be bogged down by fielding too many calls, Mistrot said, but “I think the sentiment in terms of our law enforcement as well as city representatives is that it’s a risk worth taking.”

“At first there may be a tendency to use it in an inappropriate manner,” he said, “but I think once people understand what the purpose of the system is, that will correct itself.”

San Marcos bought the three telephones and related equipment for $1,500. The Sheriff’s Department will pick up the cost for the cellular phone service.

Two shifts of three community-policing deputies will be on duty in individual sectors of the city from 9 a.m. to midnight, McClintock said.

In the sector north of California 78 and west of Twin Oaks Valley Road, the number will be 925-7192. In the sector north of California 78 and east of Twin Oaks Valley Road, the number will be 925-7193. And the sector south of the highway will have the number 925-7194.

The community-policing deputies are part of expanded coverage the Sheriff’s Department is providing San Marcos, a rural but developing community without its own police force. The city is paying $2 million for the expanded patrols and the substation. For many years, deputies patrolling San Marcos have been based in Vista, several miles away.

The new, 8,400-square-foot substation is being built at 678 Rancheros Drive for $641,500.

McClintock said the expanded force will include positions for 44 patrol deputies, seven traffic deputies, 10 detectives, three clerks, two sergeants and four police dogs.