|
Friday's Internet Edition, November 21, 2008.
Three snagged in Galt for probation violations
Operation targets known gang criminals
By Rachael Ackerman
Herald Editor
-
Thanks to a coordinated effort between several local law enforcement agencies, a number of parole and/or probation violators were arrested late last week, including three juveniles in Galt.
Part of a team of officers, detectives, deputies, probation and parole officers, two Galt detectives joined the SNAG – Sacramento Neighborhoods Against Gangs – operation in targeting known gang criminals in Galt and Elk Grove on Thursday and Friday.
Galt Police Department Sergeant Craig Walton reported that, as a result of participation in the SNAG operation last week, three known juvenile gang members in violation of probation were arrested in Galt.
Created to focus on gang crimes, and gang members on probation and parole, SNAG combines the efforts of local police departments, such as Galt and Elk Grove, with the Sacramento County Sheriff and probation departments, ICE (Immigration/Customs Enforcement), and the state parole department, to create a task force capable of executing searches and making arrests for a variety of crimes on a variety of levels.
“All together our team had 13 targets in Galt and Elk Grove, but we wound up visiting 18 locations, nine of them in Galt,” said Walton. “In Galt we arrested three for violating their terms of probation for gang related crimes.”
According to Walton, SNAG operations run annually and target individuals on searchable parole or probation.
“When these people are released on probation or parole, they agree to certain conditions for that release, such as being searched, having no affiliation with gangs, and no possession of gang paraphernalia,” said Walton. “It is our job to make sure they are sticking to those terms and conditions.”
Although Walton said there are many individuals on searchable probation in the area, those targeted by SNAG have often found their way back onto police radar, so to speak, and as a result, find them on the SNAG list to be nabbed.
“A lot of these parolees or probationers have become active with the police again,” said Walton. “Their names are coming back up related to other crimes, and that puts them back on the police radar. People on probation and parole need to comply with their conditions, and we need to make sure they are not going back to their old criminal ways, and if they are, we need to take them back to jail.”
With more than 120 law enforcement officers on SNAG duty throughout the county last week, Walton said the operation is impressive, and provides a definite deterrent to many criminals on parole or probation.
“They know we could be there any time,” said Walton. “It makes many of them comply when they know they, or their residences, could be searched anytime, even when they are not home.”
Once arrested for a parole or probation violation, offenders face the possibility of being recharged with the original violation, plus an additional charge for the new violation.
“They can be remanded back into custody to finish the original terms of their conviction, plus have the new violation added to the charge,” said Walton. “They need to know that, if they violate their promise not to do these things, they will go back to jail. That was the deal they agreed to when they were released.”
|
|
