Only woman on Sacramento sheriff's POP Team speaks about importance of community connection
SACRAMENTO — Sacramento Sheriff's Deputy Carolina Cazares says it's been a dream for years to serve on the department's People Oriented Policing (POP) Team.
"It's been a goal of mine because I grew up in a similar community. I know what it's like to have law enforcement around, and I know the importance of having a positive interaction with the community," Cazares said.
She is the only woman on the team and the first selected in over two years. CBS13 got a behind-the-scenes glimpse into her daily patrols, riding along with Deputy Cazares who said the idea of people-oriented policing comes down to making a connection with the ones they are tasked with serving.
"It's all about respect. If you respect people, everyone's human. Just because I wear a uniform doesn't mean I'm going to treat you any differently," Cazares said. "It's also about getting to know people, getting to know the people you're probably going to contact on the street."
The POP Team aims to alleviate resources from areas that may see repeated calls and works to integrate into the community to earn trust and build connections with people in hopes of solving the root causes of crime.
"We tackle community issues, working with the public," Cazares said. "It's a two-way street."
Deputy Cazares joined the Sacramento County Sheriff's Office in 2018 and said her time spent working in the jail gave her valuable knowledge about how to connect with the community on a deeper level.
"You learn how to talk to people which is a huge deal, I think the big thing is that a lot of people don't know how to do that properly when they begin patrols," Cazares said.
As a bilingual deputy, she said it's also increasingly important for officers to look and relate to the people in local neighborhoods.
She will begin serving in her new re-assigned role with the Sacramento POP Team in the next two weeks.