Sheriff’s Blotter a Click Away

A couple of patrol cars are parked down the street from you and you’re wondering like crazy why they’re there. You think about calling police headquarters or just strolling over for a closer look, but then decide you’d be a bother.

“Happens all the time,” Orange County Sheriff’s Capt. Ron Wilkerson said. “It’s quite natural to want to know why the police are there.”

Well now, for the first time you can find out--that is, if that cop car happens to be from the Sheriff’s Department.

Orange County Sheriff Mike Carona last week began placing up-to-the-minute sheriff’s blotter information on his department’s Internet Web site. It’s updated every 15 minutes and covers every call or stop the sheriff’s deputies make.

Here’s the Web site: https://www.ocsd.org. Once there, just click on “Sheriff’s Blotter.” It will ask you which city or sheriff’s jurisdiction you want to look at. It covers all the Sheriff’s Department’s jurisdictions, including the 10 cities it contracts with for police services, the county’s harbors and all county jails.

Surfing for crime news may not be for everyone. But Wilkerson says the department has already received feedback that some people are checking it out.

“We’ve always gotten a lot of calls from home buyers who want to know if the area they’re looking into has a lot of crime,” he said. “We’ve had weekly information for them, but now we can provide them up-to-the-minute crime logs.”

The blotter information remains in the system for seven days. But if you manually refresh it, you can get updates every 15 minutes.

The blotter lists the time of an incident, a brief description and the address where it takes place.

After spending some time with it this week, I was surprised at the variety of calls the Sheriff’s Department makes.

In just one afternoon’s time, deputies made traffic arrests, served warrants, assisted other police, investigated burglaries and petty thefts, conducted follow-up reports, settled numerous domestic disputes, investigated stolen vehicles, looked for missing juveniles, checked into shots heard and broke up a fight. Periodic nighttime entries included asking someone to pipe down a little because of noise complaints by neighbors.

If you look at the work of the harbor patrol deputies in Dana Point, Newport Beach and Sunset Beach, you might be surprised at how many boaters wind up needing assistance, especially those who have found themselves run aground. If you’re a boater, you’ll also note on the Web site that patrol boats are out there supervising what goes on, checking life jackets and stopping erratic boats.

By law, the Web site must delete a few calls, such as the address of a sexual assault victim or details on a mental health investigation. But just about everything else is there.

Wilkerson says that, except for the California Highway Patrol, which offers limited information, no other police agency in the county has this kind of Web site yet.

“The sheriff believes that the public has as much right to information about our department as we can provide,” Wilkerson said. “We think a lot of people will appreciate it.”

By the way, if you know someone interested in a law enforcement job, the sheriff’s Web site has listings for qualifications to apply as a deputy sheriff. Starting salary, once you pass the training academy, is $3,498 a month. Carona notes that “women and minorities are strongly encouraged to apply.”

Readers may reach Hicks by calling (714) 564-1049 or e-mail to jerry.hicks@latimes.com.