Del Paso Boulevard business owners hold security meeting to respond to break-ins and shooting
SACRAMENTO -- Business owners on Del Paso Boulevard continue to work overnight hours securing their block to keep their business safe from break-ins and burglaries.
Wednesday, the Del Paso Boulevard Partnership met for a regularly scheduled security meeting, held every other month. This week, the meeting was emotional and focused on the spikes in crime related to the burglaries and break-ins of small businesses along Del Paso Boulevard.
Officers from the Sacramento Police Department were on hand to update community members about their investigations and listened as business owners shared concerns and ideas about the latest wave of crimes. The headlines, they say, don't define the entire block and say business owners are invested in the community and keeping it safe.
"This is small business America, it's not a corporation, it's community. It's people," said one business owner, who did not want to be identified out of safety concerns. His business has been burglarized twice in the last 10 days, one of those incidents, he was able to chase down the suspects and turn evidence in to Sacramento police detectives. He also retrieved the stolen items.
He is one of the multiple business owners who meet when the sun goes down to walk the street and alleys to keep their storefronts protected.
In the May security meeting, the Del Paso Boulevard Partnership shared information on affordable solar lights for businesses that they will help install if needed. They also shared information about a push to install more cameras along the corridor.
An idea for future security is adding Sacramento Police Officers on bicycle or foot patrols, but this is a challenge, as the department has 100 sworn officer positions open right now.
Howie Ditkof, a board member of the Del Paso Boulevard Partnership, told CBS13 he is concerned about the activity outside of Sunland Liquor on the corner of Fairfield Street and Del Paso Boulevard, the same corner that saw a weekend quadruple shooting, that left two adults and a one-year-old and ten-year-old injured.
A spokesperson for the Sacramento Police Department told CBS13 they have been aware of Sunland Liquor and have responded in the past for enforcement calls.
CBS13 dug into the liquor store's past: the California Department of Alcohol and Beverage Control reports there are two violations for serving a minor decoy on its record, in February 2004 and June 2016.
According to Business and Professions Code Section 25631, alcohol sales are not allowed between 2 a.m. and 6 a.m. Certain Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) licensed businesses have operating conditions that restrict alcohol sales outside of those hours based on the individual license and the input from the public on each application process, however Sunland Liquors has no operating conditions.