Poway sheriff’s outreach includes information, crime-fighting tips

A Wednesday morning public outreach effort by the Poway sheriff’s station attracted a handful of residents with concerns ranging from telephone scams to child abductions.

Capt. Jeff Maxin was joined by Lt. J.T. Faulkner and Sgt. Dave Cheever in a 90-minute program where station operations were explained and questions were fielded.

It was the first-ever “Coffee with the Sheriff” event held in Poway. The program has been held in other communities and has attracted national attention.

Maxin, a 26-year department veteran who has run the Poway office for the past year, said his department’s relationship with the City of Poway could not be more positive. Since incorporation in 1980 the city has contracted with the county for law enforcement services which cost about $5 million annually.

“It’s so unique,” Maxin said as he compared the relationship with Poway to other cities which also contract with his department.

“We like to think of it as being a home-grown police department,” explained Assistant City Manager Tina White, who sat in on part of the program.”

The Poway station is the base of operations for about 50 deputies whom Maxin described as “a bunch of hard chargers.” Most have been assigned to Poway for the past two or three years, he said.

Maxin and Cheever joined the department at the same time; Maxin following a brother while Cheever followed a sister into the department. Maxin’s long career has primarily focused on the investigative side of law enforcement while Cheever has spent many years in traffic enforcement. Faulkner has been in the department for 31 years and also has extensive traffic experience. (He met his future wife while giving her a speeding ticket.) He first joined the San Diego Police Department as a reserve officer. Not long afterwards he worked the 1978 PSA Flight 182 airliner crash after the plane went down two blocks from where he was at the time.

Both Maxin and Faulkner took note of Poway’s crime rate of 8.1 crimes per 1,000 population — the lowest among all cities in San Diego County.

“In a city this size, that’s impossible,” Faulkner said. Maxin added that while Poway’s population is about 50,000 residents, another 35,000-40,000 people work in the city and live elsewhere.

The few residents who raised issues were concerned about scam phone calls, including ones where callers say they are from the Internal Revenue Service and demand payment of alleged back taxes. The questioners were advised to contact either the Poway station directly or file a statement through the department’s web site at www.sdsheriff.net.

An recent attempted child abduction outside a Solana Beach school prompted a question about how such incidents can be prevented.

Maxin said “situational awareness” was important and noted that most such incidents involve a family member or friend rather than a stranger. The viewing of the six-part video series “My Kid Would Never Do That” on YouTube was also recommended.

The captain also said that “nearly everything revolves back to drugs” when it comes to crime in the county. He said that social media, while on some levels a helpful communications tool, also presents crime opportunities such as “swatting,” when anonymous Internet users proceed to ruin the lives of private individuals. He cited an example where such a user called police and said a serious crime was being committed at a North Poway home when in fact nothing was happening.

Residents interested in keeping track of crime activities in their neighborhoods were advised to visit crimemapping.com, nextdoor.com and nixle.com. Anonymous tips regarding suspected crime activities can be left at crimestoppers.com.