Police chief says mail theft is a major concern in Highland

By James Folmer, Highland Community News
Original article HERE

Police chief says mail theft is a major concern in HighlandMail theft is a major crime concern in Highland, Capt. Sam Fisk said at a Coffee with a Cop event last week.

“I like to get out and about rather than sit behind a desk,” said, Highland’s chief of police, at the Starbucks on Base Line where more than a dozen people gathered on Thursday, March 15. Many represented some of the 19 Neighborhood Watch groups in the city and county support services such as the Department of Behavioral Health.

The Highland Sheriff’s Station is tackling mail theft through undercover work and automatic license plate readers, which are posted in two dozen fixed locations and all 14 police cars.

He called the cameras valuable tools. The city started using them about eight years ago, just as it started to phase out red-light cameras because of legal issues. Highland was one of the first cities to start using license plate readers, he said.

Fisk had held meetings in all five City Council districts, including one with a Neighborhood Watch group that celebrated its 25th anniversary earlier this month.

He has heard concerns about graffiti and homelessness, which the station addresses with its Community Oriented Policing program.

Diana Watson, captain of a Neighborhood Watch in the Tuscany area of East Highlands Ranch, said she and her eight co-captains have helped reduce crime by 80 percent.

On one street where drug dealers frequently parked, the group convinced the city to make it a no-parking zone. Watson’s team frequently patrols the area, takes lots of pictures and communicates often on their smart phones.

“We tell people to lock their gates because the bad guys try to break in through the backyard, she said.

Highland has contracted with the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department for police protection since it incorporated in 1987.

The station has 32 sworn officers, which includes a captain, a lieutenant, five sergeants, three detectives and 22 patrol deputies, according to its website. It also has nine non-sworn civilian employees, including a secretary, four clerical personnel, three sheriff’s service specialists and a motor pool assistant.

“The Highland Station is the busiest station within the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department in terms of calls for service, arrests per deputy, and reports per deputy,” the website says.