East County News Service

January 9, 2023 (San Diego) – San Diego County Sheriff’s Deputy Cory Richey has been arrested for 13 counts of burglary and three counts of illegal drug possession.

Source: San Diego Sheriff

July 14, 2022 (San Diego) -- A Fresh Start Farm Stand was held today at San Diego County Sheriff's Department Headquarters in Kearny Mesa. It is part of a landscaping and gardening program at the Las Colinas Detention and Reentry Facility in Santee and the East Mesa Reentry Facility in Otay Mesa. People in custody learn about growing their own food, eating healthy, working in teams and responsibility.

By Elijah McKee

Photos, left to right:  Dave Myers, Kelly Martinez, John Hemmerling, Charles Battle, Juan Carlos Mercado, Gundo Gunderson, Jonathan Peck

May 26, 2022 (San Diego's East County) — A seat of power will soon be filled in San Diego County that has not seen turnover since 2009: the Sheriff. 

By Miriam Raftery

April 18, 2022 (San Diego) – Kelly Martinez is the first woman to serve as San Diego County's Undersheriff. Now she's a candidate hoping to become the first woman Sheriff in our region, aiming to fill the vacancy left by long-time Sheriff Bill Gore’s retirement. Last week, with East County Magazine held an in-depth interview with Undersheriff Martinez, which also aired on KNSJ radio. 

She’s spent 37 years in the department, where the started the Sheriff’s Homeless Assistance Resource Team and Marijuana Enforcement teams. She helped manage the department’s responses through the pandemic and civil unrest. She says she’s committed to investing in improving public safety and jail safety, as well as filling vacancies amid critical staffing shortages.

View video of the full interview. Hear audio version.  Scroll down to read highlights.

By Miriam Raftery

Image: CC via Bing

February 18, 2022 (San Diego) – After revelations that San Francisco police used DNA collected from rape kits to charge a rape victim with a property crime, San Francisco’s District Attorney Chesa Boudin dismissed the charges and called the police actions a violation of the Fourth Amendment, which prohibits unreasonable searches and seizures.

So East County Magazine asked the San Diego Sheriff department whether it has submitted rape victims’ DNA collected at hospitals to a database that could be used to link rape victims to other crimes.

Within hours of our request, Lieutenant Amber Baggs, the Sheriff’s Media Relations Director, sent this response:  “No we do NOT do this.  I read the article as well and checked with our Crime Lab Director. We do not match victim's DNA to other crimes. Thank you for asking so this can be clarified.”

Source: San Diego Sheriff

November 13, 2021 (San Diego) -- The San Diego County Sheriff's Department is partnering with the San Diego County District Attorney's Office, La Mesa Police Department, El Cajon Police Department and the United African American Ministerial Action Council to get unwanted guns off our streets.

Join the Guns For Gift Cards event on Saturday, November 13 from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at the La Mesa Civic Center, 4825 Date Avenue, La Mesa. Turn in your unwanted gun and receive a gift card ($100 for handguns, rifles and shotguns & $200 for assault weapons).  Remain anonymous.  No questions asked.

By Miriam Raftery

July 21, 2021 (San Diego) —  Why does San Diego County have the highest rate of jail deaths of any other major California county?  Local legislators hope to find out.  On July 1st, the Joint Legislative Audit Committee approved a measure to ask California’s State Auditor to provide independently developed and verified information on inmate deaths in the custody of the San Diego Sheriff’s department.

The request for the audit was introduced by Assemblymember Akilah Weber (D-San Diego) along with other members of the San Diego delegation including Assemblymembers Tasha Boerner-Horvath, Brian Maienschein, Christopher Ward, Lorena Gonzalez, Senate President pro Tempore Toni Atkins, and Senator Ben Hueso.

“The approval of this audit request may provide answers to the many families who have lost loved ones while in the custody of the San Diego County Sheriff’s Office,” said Assemblymember Weber. "A jail sentence should not be a de facto death sentence. We can use this opportunity to uncover the disparities of the department protocol so that we can implement better procedures for protecting the safety of incarcerated individuals.”

Source: San Diego Sheriff, Ramona substation

Photos: Suspect #1 and Suspect #2

November 24, 2020 (Ramona) -- San Diego County Crime Stoppers and investigators from the Ramona Sheriff’s substation are asking for the public’s help in identifying and locating the suspects responsible for a commercial burglary.

On Monday, November 16 at around 10:00 p.m., two unknown suspects forced entry into the Sunbelt Rentals store located at 2055 Main Street in Ramona. The suspects cut a hole in the outer fence of the property and then proceeded to break a window of the business to gain entry inside. The suspects stole several power tools and generators totaling around $15,000.

By Miriam Raftery

October 21, 2020 (Spring Valley) – Sheriff’s deputies responding to a call reporting a shooting Monday night discovered an illegal gambling establishment set up in an outbuilding at 1726 Helix Street in Spring Valley. “It contained approximately fifteen slot machines. Spent shell casings from a firearm were also located in the outbuilding,” says Lieutenant Joel Stranger.

Deputies from the Rancho San Diego station responded around 9:22 p.m. Monday and checked the property, but no shooting victim was found. During the search, one deputy stepped on a board with nails sticking up in an apparent “booby trap,” according to Lt. Stranger.

Sheriff also warns consumers about virus-related scams

By Miriam Raftery

March 18, 2020 (San Diego)—The San Diego Sheriff's department has arrested eight local people for selling hoarded toilet paper, cleaning supplies, hygiene products and protective equipment at price-gouging rates. The suspects, who posted the items for sale online, could be fined up to $10,000 and imprisoned.

It is illegal to price gouge during an emergency. After the state emergency declaration due to COVID-19, when consumers found store shelves emptied of much-needed supplies, deputies began checking out online websites. They found local residents offering items at up to 20 times higher than normal. 

Plain-clothes deputies from the Fallbrook station arranged to meet and buy the excessively priced goods, then arrested the suspects including individuals from unicorporated El Cajon, Escondido, Poway, San Diego, San Marcos, Rainbow, and Vista.

The eight people arrested, who were cited and released pending trial, are:

By Rebecca Jefferis Williamson

October 6, 2019 (Lemon Grove) -- A San Diego Sheriff pilot project introducing a video federation program, election sign regulations for Lemon Grove City Council candidates and other matters were discussed by the Council at their meeting Oct. 1st at the Lemon Grove Community Center.

The video federation project was introduced by San Diego Sheriff Lt. Mike Rand. 

Lt. Rand said the department has begun the process of community awareness of a video sharing platform named “SafeSanDiego.” The first community forum in Lemon Grove was held on Oct. 3.  Businesses, government agencies and residents will be allowed to share video with law enforcement to help authorities investigate and solve criminal cases.

Hear our interview at this audio link, or scroll down for higlights.

By Miriam Raftery

May 6, 2018 (San Diego) – In an exclusive interview aired recently on the East County Magazine Show on KNSJ radio, Sheriff Bill Gore said San Diego is the “safest urban county in America” and touted his nine-year record, also addressing controversies. Hear the full interview at the audio link above, or scroll down for highlights.

Gore has a 44-year career in law enforcement, including serving as Assistant Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI), where he helped pioneer a cyber crimes squad and joint terrorism task force. A Navy veteran raised in San Diego, he comes from a law enforcement family and is married to one of the FBI’s first women agents. His department serves the county’s unincorporated areas and contracts with nine local cities, including Lemon Grove and Santee here in East County.

East County News Service

July 19, 2017 (San Diego) — The San Diego County Board of Supervisors this week unanimously approved more than a million dollars to equip Sheriff's Deputies with body-worn cameras.

The Sheriff's Department will officially roll out its body-worn camera program next month at the Alpine Sheriff's Station and Ramona Sheriff's Substation. From there, deputies countywide will receive the cameras within four to five months.

Source: San Diego County Sheriff's Department

December 1, 2016 (San Diego) - 24 hours per day, seven days a week, Sheriff's Dispatchers answer emergency calls from all across San Diego County. They save lives by getting help out to those calling 9-1-1.

By Miriam Raftery

Photo by Richard Edwords: Harrowing ride along State Route 94 during Border Fire

September 15, 2016  (San Diego’s East County) – The County’s Border Fire 2016 After Action Report  presents a review on the regional response to the Border Fire that ignores many serious complaints lodged by rural residents in the fire. The report was written entirely by official agencies and  does not include concerns raised by the public, leading rural planning officials,  residents and a community news editor to contend the county whitewashed their concerns.

 The blaze killed two people , destroyed five homes and left countless animals without care in triple-digit heat while residents were refused access  for days after the fire. While residents praise efforts of firefighters who worked valiantly to prevent worse losses, many feel betrayed by officials in the wake of the Border Fire report and other complaints that residents say have yielded little or no meaningful changes.

The report omits entirely any mention of controversies over the deaths of Potrero residents Jim and Kyrie Keefe,  whose bodies were found by community volunteers.  Agencies praised themselves in the report, while omitting criticisms on issues such as lack of  adequate care for animals stranded in triple-digit heat and inadequate evacuation notifications -- in some cases, just yellow caution tape stuck on mailboxes, with no explanation or direct contact with residents in danger after their phone lines, cell towers and Internet service all  went down in communities such as Potrero and Lake Morena.