Citrus Heights says
Sayonara to Crime
Troubled neighborhood sees crime drop by 78 percent
For years, the Sayonara Drive neighborhood in Citrus
Heights lived up to its Japanese namesake:
Goodbye.
Residents seemed to have given up on the threeblock, multi-family housing area in the city of
88,000 in Sacramento County as open-air drug
markets, shootings, felony assaults, and gang activity
sadly became routine.
Many tenants took advantage of absentee landlords
by discarding garbage or old furniture and
appliances on the street, and neglecting landscaping.
Cops would swoop in regularly to make arrests
with targeted law enforcement sweeps, but the
crackdowns often would leave many residents
feeling mistrustful and afraid to communicate with
officers and report crime.
In a dramatic turnaround since Chief of Police
Christopher Boyd came aboard with the creation
of Citrus Heights’ own police department in 2006,
the Sayonara Drive neighborhood has undergone
a remarkable transformation, with a new Children
and Youth Center and new park, and a stunning 78
percent overall decrease in calls for service from
2007 through 2011.
For its efforts, the Citrus Heights PD was named
the 2013 recipient of the James Q. Wilson Award
for Excellence in Community Policing. The award
is presented annually by the California chapter of
the Regional Community Policing Institute and is
sponsored by the American Military University and
the state Attorney General’s Office.
A strong philosophy of community and problemoriented-policing is at the heart of Sayonara Drive’s
dramatic turnaround, Boyd says.
“I believe a partnership with the community is vital
to sustained efforts in law enforcement and qualityof-life issues within neighborhoods,” Boyd says.
“And this philosophy has greatly assisted in paving
the way for success on Sayonara Drive.”
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