Patrol - West Slope
8
Operations
Patrol is the largest unit within the Operations
Division of the Sheriff’s Office. Patrol is also the
the most visible to the public. They are the first
to respond to 911 calls, while uniformed deputies
driving marked patrol cars work 24/7 to ensure
a safe and thriving community.
The Patrol Unit has three lieutenants, 14
sergeants and 97 deputies who work tirelessly
protecting the community. El Dorado County
has 1,786 square miles of land and is unique in
that only 23 square miles combined are policed
by allied agencies, Placerville Police and South
Lake Tahoe Police. The remaining area is the
responsibility of the Sheriff’s Office. The main
headquarters is located in Placerville with an
additional office in South Lake Tahoe to serve
the Tahoe Basin. There are also substations in
El Dorado Hills and Georgetown which are
frequently staffed by volunteers or deputies.
These substations provide a more accessible
location for those community members to
connect with the Sheriff's Office.
Laws and regulations affecting Patrol have
changed over the last five years in many ways,
including the adaptation to the legislation
related to marijuana, and the reduction of crime
classifications for drug and theft cases. The
objective of a patrol deputy is to build
partnerships within the community and work to
ensure the residents and visitors of El Dorado
County are safe.
In 2018, Patrol assigned extra resources to
specific areas throughout the county for two
week periods. This saturated patrol focused on
existing or ongoing “quality of life” problems
such as drug, theft and vandalism crimes. These
saturated patrol areas were constantly
reevaluated and issues were promptly
addressed based on real time crime statistics.
The extra and consistent law enforcement
presence directly impacted crime in these areas
and on the offenders that frequented them. This
positive experience has become regular
practice in how the Sheriff’s Office allocates
their resources daily.
The Sheriff’s Office continues to hire and train
new deputies and recruit lateral deputies who
have previously worked in law enforcement with
other agencies. These new deputies bring new
perspectives and ideas to help better serve El
Dorado County.
This year, the Sheriff’s Office has empowered
deputies to use social media to better connect
with the community. These efforts provide
transparency as to what a deputy’s wide array
of daily activities might consist of.
Patrol continues to embrace and integrate new
technology in order to be more effective and
efficient in their normal duties. A mobile
fingerprint device has also been issued that
allows for in-field confirmation of a person’s
identity. This will be especially beneficial for
those we are trying to help but may not be able
to communicate their identity to us. This will
also help reduce misidentification for arrested
subjects that provide false names upon initial
contact or help to identify deceased persons
quicker than other lengthy forensic methods.
The last classic Ford Crown Victoria sedan was
used in patrol in 2018. The Sheriff’s Office Patrol
fleet is currently a mix of Ford Explorers and Ford
Expeditions. This means that every deputy has
an all wheel drive vehicle at a minimum; allowing all working deputies to be able to respond to any call for service throughout the county at any
time. El Dorado County ranges from paved
roads in neighborhoods in El Dorado Hills, to
rural dirt roads in the southern or northern portions, to elevations reaching 10,000 in Desolation Wilderness.
All patrol vehicles are equipped with complex
electronics to include Automatic Vehicle
Location (AVL), which provides the precise
location of every patrol car. This technology
allows for more efficient operation and quicker
response to calls in addition to safety
considerations for officers. The Patrol Unit is
constantly looking for ways to accomplish more
with the number of deputies we have and
provide a greater service to the public.