HEMET: Twenty-three arrested during HPD’s Operation Naughty & Nice sweep
Hemet PD’s mobile command center enables the department to set up large-scale operations anywhere in the city. Hemet PD photo
HEMET – As part of their continuing efforts to clean up Hemet city streets, the Hemet police Department’s ROCS Team – which stands for Restoring Our Community Strategy – once again teamed up with code enforcement officers and public works employees to conduct Operation Naughty and Nice Wednesday Dec. 14.
The operation was a targeted enforcement sweep intended to focus on quality of life issues such as trespassing, drugs, thefts, illegal dumping, and panhandling in shopping areas and the city parks.
“With the recent approval of Measure U, the citizens of Hemet have made it very clear that these type of issues are a top priority in the community,” Hemet Police Deputy Chief Rob Webb explained.
This was the department’s third high visibility sweep completed by the City of Hemet in as many weeks.
Those who were arrested during the sweep were detained in a temporary holding facility while they awaited booking. Hemet PD photo
To facilitate the high visibility sweep Hemet PD’s mobile command post was set up on the northwest corner of State Street and Stetson Avenue in Hemet.
A total of 23 people were arrested; four for felony charges and 19 for misdemeanor charges. Of those who were arrested, 18 were booked into Riverside County jail and three were booked in the City of Hemet jail. Additionaly, officials issued two administrative citations
As part of the targeted sweep, city officials conducted 44 pedestrian stops, two traffic stops, and three bike stops. Officials also seized 22 shopping carts, and cleaned up two homeless encampments.
Throughout the day, residents stopped by the command center offering water, coffee, and words of support and encouragement to the officers at their bustling mobile command center.
The area where Hemet PD’s mobile command center was set up was a hub of activity during the day-long sweep. Hemet PD photo
The highlight of the sweep happened when Hemet police officers located a homeless US Marine veteran, Webb explained. “We put him in direct contact with the US Department of Veterans Affairs who immediately provided him with housing.”
City of Hemet’s Mayor Linda Krupa voiced her praise and support for the ongoing sweeps, saying, “The multi-disciplinary team approach has proven very effective and it is based off of the Hemet Restoring Our Community Strategy program. We are pleased to see the positive results and I look forward to many more similar operations.”
At the end of the long and productive day, Webb said, “We just wanted to say thanks to the good people of Hemet who stopped by the command post and said hello. We appreciate the support.”
For more information on the Hemet ROCS Program please visit the following web site: Hemet ROCS
Click any image for full-size gallery.
Contact the writer: [email protected]
Trevor Montgomery spent 10 years in the U.S. Army as an Orthopedic Specialist before joining the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department in 1998. He was medically retired after losing his leg in an off-duty accident.
During his time with the sheriff’s department, Trevor worked at several different stations, including the Robert Presley Detention Center, the Southwest Station in Temecula, the Hemet Station, and the Lake Elsinore Station, along with many other locations.
Trevor’s assignments included Corrections, Patrol, DUI Enforcement, Boat and Personal Water-Craft based Lake Patrol, Off-Road Vehicle Enforcement, Problem Oriented Policing Team, Personnel and Background Investigations and he finished his career while working as a Sex Crimes and Child Abuse Investigator.
Trevor has been married for more than 26 years and was a foster parent to more than 60 children over 13 years. He is now an adoptive parent and has 13 children and 12 – soon to be 13 – grandchildren.
Great Job guys — we will be so glad when Hemet is free from all the horrible stuff that has been going on in the last few years.
I’ve been here since 1998 and it was a wonderful place to live, lets all give the police a hand to restore it to what it once was.
“A wonderful and safe place to live” Lets make 2017 the year to “Take our town back”
Ho Ho, for the police… And for the Veteran… for all others, they are inside their,
Christmas Box, lined with metal bars for wrapping…
As if life with mental illness wasn’t hard enough for those pedestrians picked up at homeless encampments. Probably the only place they could possibly survive the winters without being thrown into the corrupt riverside county mental health facilities that strip them of all of their rights. Good cheering u disgusting human obviously uneducated on the “perks” the mentally ill get from our society. Stupid.
Thankful a US Vet was housed. No vet should ever end up homeless. And to him I say… Sir, thank you for serving our country. Bless you.
PROFILING IS F****** ILLEGAL PIGS!