A look at Alpine County's sheriff's department

In Alpine County, a person from out of the county often sees a sheriff's vehicle cruising along one of the highways in the county; or a visitor tipping a few in a pub in Kirkwood one night might see one of the deputies stopping in briefly to say hello, his presence conveying a message that the law and the associated protection is not far away.

Is that what we get here in Alpine County from the sheriff's department, just a presence here and there of the sheriff's star, reminding us to behave on the road and in the bars? Is that all?

Most of us who have lived in the county for any length of time know that there is more than what a visitor might see. Recently I made a point to find out how much more.

Looking at records of the state of California, one can compare levels of staffing with other counties.

Sheriff John Crawford has a staff of 16, including himself, 12 uniformed officers and four support staff. Part of his staff is located in Bear Valley, on the other side of the mountain. That's essentially the minimum number of personnel a county in California needs to have these days to man three shifts, seven days a week, for the territory involved and the widespread population centers. That and the attendant day in day out responsibilities that go with the office of sheriff. No other county has a smaller sheriff's department. Base staffing is not dependent on the number of residents in a county nor on the crime rate.

Counties in California report annually the number of crimes in several categories and the state compiles the statistics. The state, in turn sends them to the FBI.

The reports are called the Uniform Crime Reports. Crawford's department also keeps statistics by specific areas in the county. Those statistics show that Alpine County has a considerably higher incidence, expressed as crimes per 100,000 population, than the state average in the categories of aggravated assault and larceny. And why is that? Part of the answer lies in the proportionately higher number of visitors in the county in the two ski areas and the many campgrounds. In particular, that explains the higher rate of larcenies. Stealing skis and snowboards is an unfortunately common occurrence in ski areas. And it's difficult to catch the thieves, too. Mono County with Mammoth Mountain has a higher rate of larcenies also.

Alpine County's rate from 2000 to 2005 was more than twice the statewide average. Remember, rates are expressed in crimes per 100,000 population. Our population is about 1,300. The visitor population, especially in the winter, is much higher.

Looking at the locations where these assaults occur, one sees that the Native American colony near Woodfords has a disproportionate number of such incidents. Most are in the category of domestic violence. This is troubling to Crawford, a Native American himself. The rate is much lower than it was 10 years ago, and that's encouraging. The sheriff's department works with the Alpine Women's Center and finds that very helpful in lowering the rate of spousal abuse and family disputes.

Crawford said he believes very strongly that having a high visibility of uniformed officers is important in keeping crimes in check, and his people are out and around, day and night. Like I said, that is what a visitor sees.

There's a sense of security that goes with it. And just as important is that his people attend various public meetings, regularly present programs for the schools, senior gatherings, and other organizations.

Many of the deputies take part in community affairs on their own time, though about half of his people live in Douglas County, where housing is more readily available. Most of the time the off duty officers keep their pagers on so they can respond quickly to a nearby problem without even having to be called by the dispatcher. The officers will keep an eye on homes if requested while residents are on vacation.

Nearly half of the sheriff's department annual budget of $3,285,722 is funded by state and federal grants which bring with them special responsibilities. Two positions are funded by the state to concentrate on looking for and rooting out meth labs, and one is funded by the state to work on all the drug problems. The department is part of interagency and interstate drug task forces that combat drug problems throughout the region.

The department has a program funded by the Office of Emergency Services. The department has created a comprehensive Emergency Field Operations Guide, which is used by the fire departments and the emergency medical technicians as well as the deputies in relation to wildfire response, highway accidents, structure fires, and any incident that involves emergency services, including those that require evacuations.

The department is responsible for search and rescue, with 15 to 30 volunteers ready to help with the 15 to 20 searches a year. They have over-the-snow vehicles for searches in snow areas.

And the department is helping upgrade the access to and the technical capability of the repeater facilities on Hawkins Peak. When done, there will be greatly enhanced communication throughout the county and beyond. The site is shared with state and federal agencies and is on U.S. Forest Service land.

The deputies respond to traffic accidents to back up the CHP which is stretched thin in the area. They and the volunteer fire departments respond to dozens of such incidents a year.

Yes, there is a lot more going on than meets the eye.

Oh, yes, did I say that Undersheriff Rob Levy is also one of the Woodfords volunteer firefighters when off-duty?

I was at that station a week ago when he and Buck McClelland rolled out to a vehicle accident. There was a lot of help that joined them at the scene - sheriff's deputies and emergency medical technicians. The wife of one of the deputies is one of our EMTs.

And who comes if you've got a bear in the house with you? You guessed it, one of the sheriff's staff, maybe the sheriff himself.

And so folks, in Alpine County, what you get from the sheriff's department is a lot more than what you might see.