Sheriff’s officials are calling a 24-hour targeted operation “a success” after locking up two dozen suspects Thursday and Friday.
Between 6 a.m. Thursday and 6 a.m. Friday, a special team of 30 Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department deputies from the Santa Clarita station hit the streets looking to intervene in crimes committed throughout the valley.
All-in-all, 24 people were arrested as a result of the operation. Twelve of the arrests involved narcotics, five for felony warrants. Others included forgery, parole violation, public intoxication, restraining order violation, identity theft, possession of burglary tools, receiving stolen property and weapons violations.
“We had tremendous success throughout the operation,” Deputy Sheriff Chris Craft said following the conclusion of the round-the-clock exercise.
“We also field identified eight gang members throughout the Santa Clarita Valley,” Craft said.
The Sheriff’s Station’s goal was to identify local areas in need of more proactive policing, Craft explained.
That method factors in the station’s three-pronged approach: education, intervention and enforcement.
“The education side targets younger people and encourages them to not become involved in narcotics,” Craft said.
The station employs intervention programs through its J-Team, a band of deputies and detectives focused on helping people get treatment and placement in homes if they need more help staying away from or get off narcotics.
If the intervention and education doesn’t work, deputies conduct enforcement.
Craft encourages those seeking help or advice to contact the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station’s J-Team at 661-255-1121.
