Sheriff's Non-Emergency Dispatch: 714-647-7000 or 949-770-6011. Making Orange County a safe, healthy, and fulfilling place to live, work, and play, today and for generations to come, by providing outstanding, cost-effective regional public services. Two undercover officers (who could pass for long-haired hippies) had been driving north on El Camino Real, downtown, in their ratty old undercover car. San Clemente residents fed up with attempts to build toll road through town. “The suspect,” police said, “proved to be a half-empty bottle of apple juice that had fermented. There was plenty of serious news that we covered. My old clipping files include lots of crime stories, some quite dramatic, even stunning. Fred can be reached at fswegles@picketfencemedia.com. The story said the suspects had driven two new 1978 automobiles and a used car off the lot at Hal Greene Chevrolet on El Camino Real, right over the curb. No wonder “police blotter” lists became so popular in newspapers. “A subject and his spouse,” the officer said, “were doing what a husband and wife are supposed to be doing in a bedroom.”. The undercover officer, reaching for his wallet, instead pulled out his badge. You Are Now Leaving the County of Orange Official Portal Most Wanted Cold Cases Daily Archive. Back in the day, we just handled them differently. eval(ez_write_tag([[300,250],'sanclementetimes_com-banner-1','ezslot_2',105,'0','0']));The above news brief, which I believe I wrote 40 or more years ago, is an example of San Clemente’s old-school “police blotter.”. If we found something inconsequential but interesting, the basic narrative on the Rolodex often was sufficient. No one at the old Daily Sun-Post ever thought of compiling a list of police-blotter items. At the next stoplight, the two smokers held the joint as if to say, “You want some?”. But the vast majority of calls police receive, as you know from reading “police blotter” listings in recent years, don’t turn out to be hardcore. When two shoplifters were allegedly caught Wednesday afternoon at the Victoria Market, 201 Avenida Victoria, Officer Craig Kelsey and the store’s proprietor reached prompt agreement on how to handle the matter. “Police praised an employee at Mr. Pete’s Restaurant and a Marine passerby for quick reporting of the crime, which led to the arrests,” the story said. Officers identified them as female impersonators. Who provides Police Services for the City of San Clemente? The Sheriff’s Department no longer releases brief descriptions of police calls that newspapers could publish as a listing. Headline: “Begonias begone.”. An apartment dweller had summoned police, “very upset,” to report someone had thrown a rock through her window. Crime Map.

Weekly Crime Report: San Clemente & Nearby Police Log - San Clemente, CA - A look at a few of this week's police, fire and courtroom incidents near San Clemente. SC Sheriff’s Blotter: Man Asks Police to Cut Wires to Church’s Errant Burglary Alarm. The OCSD provides law enforcement services that include patrol, investigations, traffic enforcement, community support, drug education, parking control, and crime prevention. Headline: “Thief commits assault on battery.”, Another time, flowers were reported stolen from a front yard. No Internet. For serious crimes or arrests, traffic deaths, injury collisions or other newsworthy incidents, we’d speak with the sergeant or an investigator—whoever could tell us more to craft a story. The above news brief, which I believe I wrote 40 or more years ago, is an example of San Clemente’s old-school “police blotter.” We didn’t publish any listing of police calls back then. The undercover officers smiled back. All Rights Reserved. On rare occasions, a funny headline was worth concocting. Police managed to recover two of the cars and make arrests in San Clemente; the third by another agency in San Diego County. The officers grinned back, gesturing toward the parking lot of what is now Rite-Aid. Updated 8:30 p.m. My final decade or so covering news in San Clemente, I was assigned to work cop shifts at Orange County Register 13 weekends a year, spending my shift making calls to the Sheriff’s Department and every police department around the county, plus other agencies. Don't get the SC Times delivered to your home? This is a sampling of short articles some four decades ago that more recently might’ve been a one-liner in the police blotter. Only they were in the front seat of a pickup truck in a parking lot. But one narrative on the Rolodex was so out of the ordinary, I wrote it up.

There was an exchange of some pot. Reporters did it the old-fashioned way: sit at the police desk and flip manually through incident sheets—every police call for the previous 24 hours—on Rolodex sheets listing the time, place, who handled the call and a description. Police services are provided through a contract with Orange County Sheriff's Department (OCSD). Fred Swegles is a longtime San Clemente resident with five decades of reporting experience in the city.

“They will return to the store for the next two days to clean the parking lot,” police decreed. Three auto theft suspects came well-dressed Thursday night, when they checked into the San Clemente Jail. Get important news and updates delivered straight to your inbox. A police officer was dispatched quickly to the scene, just outside the Halfway House at about 9 p.m. Saturday.eval(ez_write_tag([[250,250],'sanclementetimes_com-medrectangle-3','ezslot_1',112,'0','0'])); A fight in progress? The two suspects—ages 7 and 8—were taken to their parents to have the sentence pronounced. Some can be amusing. San Clemente Police Services, located at 100 Avenida Presidio in San Clemente, is the only South Operations contract city that operates from its own stationhouse. We didn’t publish any listing of police calls back then. At a red light, they noticed two occupants of a car to their left, passing a joint. OC sheriff's investigator pulls gun on teens at skate park. September 27, 2020 September 26, 2020 September 25, 2020 September 24, 2020 September 23, 2020. Your email address will not be published. The smokers noticed, held up the joint and smiled. One news brief, an 11 p.m. call to police reporting someone screaming as if in pain, brought officers rushing to the scene.

The officers glanced over. I once wrote two short sentences about a bungled attempt to steal a car battery. “This was children playing with ice cubes, putting them down each other’s clothing,” the story said. It had exploded, causing a window to break.”. If there was a fire, we would walk next door to speak with firefighters. Since we published Monday through Friday, we could mine the police blotter daily for any quirky items to appear as news briefs, mixed in with our newsier public safety stories, human interest stories, city council coverage, business pieces, sports, surf and more. There was no police website. Instead, we’d cherry-pick incidents to publish with a short narrative.

Police arrested the man on a drunk charge and dispersed the crowd. A routine marijuana arrest wasn’t worth a news story. SAN CLEMENTE—A large crowd was gathered around a pickup truck, police were told, and there appeared to be a fight. OC high school confirms racist taunting at football game. Police quoted the three San Diego men as saying they were “entertainers” when they were booked on charges of grand theft in connection with a trio of auto thefts here Thursday night. San Clemente Times © 2020.