City Council with an idea to create a new unit within the Patrol Division with a Community Oriented Policing philosophy that would attempt to use a multi-faceted approach at slowing the disturbing rise in crime. This unit would not be driven by calls for service, giving them the ability to address known high crime areas, while remaining flexible enough to work on emerging crime trends.
Our City Council and city leaders were intrigued and provided Chief Paoletti the approval to allocate four new police officer positions for two years, utilizing reserve funds, to create the“ Neighborhood Police Unit”. One Sergeant, one Corporal and four Officers were selected to begin their new assignment on January 4, 2016. Redding Police Department Crime Statistician, Mike Murphy, with input from Neighborhood Watch Groups and Business Watch Programs, identified several priority areas of concern. Hotels and motels with high numbers of calls for service were identified as the top priority for proactive enforcement.
One motel, The Redding Inn, was already known by all of the patrol divisions to be an especially high crime area of drugs and violence. This location was in our downtown area and naturally became a primary target for enforcement, not only because of the ongoing criminal activity, but because of the concerns voiced by surrounding business owners and citizens. Open drug dealing, prostitution, violence in the streets, burglaries and thefts, all pointed at The Redding Inn’ s long term tenants as the primary source. Cheap rooms rented with cash, without showing ID, and no credit card or deposit required, invited a criminal element to move in and take over. Dilapidated conditions, lack of upkeep, broken windows and unhealthy living conditions became the norm. Motel management and staff were instructed to not call police for any reason, yet this motel still had the highest calls for service by far of any location in Redding( over 400 calls for service between 2014-2015). This was the result of calls from concerned citizens, neighboring businesses, victims and patrol officers stopping to address open criminal activity.
The Shasta County District Attorney’ s Office, Senior Deputy District Attorney Anand“ Lucky” Jesrani, heads-up the Consumer Protection Unit. The Consumer Protection
“ Cheap rooms rented with cash, without showing ID, and no credit card or deposit required, invited a criminal element to move in and take over.”
Unit provides assistance to individuals who live, shop, or do business in Shasta County. When investigations reveal illegal, fraudulent, or deceptive practices by a business, the unit may pursue criminal and / or civil actions under Business and Professions Code( B & P) § 17200 et. seq.,
DDA Jesrani offered several innovative ideas for addressing criminal activity at business locations such as The Redding Inn, including civil prosecutions. A civil prosecution can be an effective means of getting a business to cease their unlawful activity. The primary goal of a civil prosecution is to protect consumers, but it also protects honest businesses that comply with the law and helps ensure a fair marketplace. Authority for filing civil prosecutions comes from B & P § 17200, which is California’ s unfair competition law.
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