Police update - The Best or Worst of Times?

One city, two tales: press releases from city hall indicate Mission Viejo is practically the safest city in the universe. According to comments from blog readers, police aren’t effectively responding to calls for help.

The blog invited residents to report specifics. Here’s an example, documented with police reports from the O.C. Sheriff’s Blotter.

On July 4, a resident called police at 9:12 p.m., reporting approximately 40 young people had broken into the vacant house next door to have a marijuana and beer party. The resident’s description included teens as young as 15 and 16. A police report shows officers arrived at 9:20 p.m. on a complaint of trespassing on vacant property. The resident said two policemen entered the house, seeming to befriend rather than question the teens. Some teens left but returned as soon as the police were gone. Policemen said to the complainant, “We saw empty beer cans, but we didn’t see anyone drinking.” They added they had no proof the empty house had been broken into.

The party continued, and the resident again called police at 11:26 p.m. The police blotter shows officers responded at 11:33 to a complaint of a loud party next door. The resident said a police car drove by but didn’t stop. The resident also said, “The operator told me not to call 911 unless it’s an emergency.” Are complaints of breaking and entering, marijuana smoking, underage drinking and disturbing the peace administrative matters?

Meanwhile, the resident also spoke on the phone with a police sergeant, who said nothing could be done regarding the complaint.

The resident called 911 a third time at approximately 11:38, adding that a physical altercation was occurring in the street and front yard of the vacant house. The police arrived at 11:51 according to the Sheriff’s blotter. Policemen knocked on the front door of the vacant house. No one answered the door, and the officers left without noticing the teens had relocated from the front to the back yard of the vacant house.

The resident said, “I was made to feel as if I were the problem, so I stopped calling.”

A blog staffer asked the resident why other neighbors weren’t summoned to reinforce the need for police action. The resident’s response: “Renters of the house on the other side grow marijuana in their back yard. They’ve been busted for pot and numerous DUI’s. They’re not likely to complain about anything.”