Citrus Heights Police Department Earns Award for Excellence

The Citrus Police Department was the recipient of a community policing award for its transformation of Sayonara Drive. 

The department was named the 2013 recipient of the James Q. Wilson Award for Excellence in Community Policing, an annual award presented by the California chapter of the Regional Community Policing Institute. The award is sponsored by the American Military University and the state Attorney General’s Office, according to the California Police Chiefs Association. 

Sayonara Drive, located off Sunrise Boulevard in Citrus Heights, was once an unsafe street filled with gang-related crime, drugs, shootings, litter and unkempt houses. But that has changed with the help of the "problem oriented policing unit," according to the association. Officers worked with kids in the youth center on the street and built trust with the local families. 

The association reports that Sayonara Drive underwent 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."

According to the Regional Community Policing Institute's website, the award is given to one law enforcement agency every year after a panel of experts review information based on problem solving, relationships with the community and organizations and results. 

You can read more about the Sayonara Drive revitalization here. 

What do you think of the changes on Sayonara Drive? Tell us in the comment section below. 

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