Posted by chriso I ride my bicycle around downtown alot. I just heard from a friend of mine that while he was riding his bike downtown an officer stopped him and told him to get off of the sidewalk and ride in the street. Are bicylists not allowed to ride on the sidewalk? I am not very comfortable riding in the street without a bike lane. Dear chriso, The truth of the matter is that the sidewalk is meant for pedestrians. In other words, it is illegal to ride on the sidewalks. Bicyclists must follow the same rules of the road as other “vehicles” and must ride as close as “practicable” to the right. Sacramento strives to be a bicycle friendly city with many bicycle routes, so people are e

Posted by livin.life My oldest daughter is looking to buy her first car. A couple of weeks ago someone told me there is an upcoming police auto auction. Is this true? If so, when and where are the police auto auctions held? How much is the minimum amount of money a person should have to purchase a vehicle? I just ran across this site - wow! - this is interesting! Thanks for your help. Dear livin.life, I spoke to our fleet manager who handles our police vehicles, both marked and unmarked. The Sacramento Police Department has a contract with the city who leases these vehicles. When the police department is finished with the cars, they are usually too beat up to sell.  We drive them an

Posted by JamesIsNot Happy Hello Officer Michelle, At the moment I’m not very happy; my home was burglarized last week. This week I’ve been busy implementing a number of new security measures, one of which is a very prominent “No Solicitors” sign. A solicitor just came to my door, and I accosted him about the sign. After a bit of verbal sparring, he responded with “I’m going to F*ck you up, and there is nothing you can do about it because my lawyer is bigger than your!”. I immediately called 911, was this the correct thing to do? The 911 dispatcher did nothing becuase the soliciter fled the scene. Is there anything I can do about this? I have flyer he was passing out that contains a c

Posted by DCaroll I had a Lexus a few years ago and the prior owner had tinted the front driver and passenger windows. My wife was pulled over while driving the car and was cited for the tinted windows. The ticket forced us to remove the tint and have an officer sign off. Ignoring it, I was told, would prevent us from registering the car. Has this law been changed? The reason I ask is because it seems every 5th car I see today has dark tinted front windows. I was next to a Corvette the other day in bright daylight and I couldn’t even see the outline of a driver, let alone if there was an actual person in there. How do they get away with it? Dear DCaroll, California Vehicle Code

Hello Officer Michelle, My concern is about a neighbor across the street. I frequently see him outside on his driveway, drinking beer and playing loud music with friends. I’m not shy to ask them to lower the volume and most times they comply. The issue I want to address is that they drive to the liquor store to get more alcohol when I know fully well that they have exceeded the legal alcohol limit based on the number of empty cans that strewn the driveway. Is this something I should report to the police? If so, how would I go about reporting a drunk driver if I do not know their location after they drive away from their home and when they return in only 15 minutes? Dear Cogsboy, Curren

The law still applies, even for limos. We do cite people for vehicle code violations pertaining to modifications. As far as why you see vehicles that don't get stopped, I can only tell you that if there is a higher priority call pending, or if an officer is enroute to a call, or if they have a person in the back of their squad car, they won't do any such self initiated activity. Most officers are going from call to call...its not an excuse, but essentially the reality.

We can't do enough to thank those guys...

Actually, officers if acting within the scope of their duties (responding to a call, etc), are allowed to ride on the sidewalk. They don't take advantage of this authority.

Whoa! This is the deal...I am surely not saying that every young teen or adult who wears a long white T-shirt,or has a long hair style is associated in a gang! I am looking at the totally of the circumstances here. These youths are usually between the ages of 13-19 that I a referring to. These are the youths that are causing problems in the neighborhoods; vandalism, thefts, selling drugs, bulling others, etc. These are the youths people call us about, asking us to do something about the problems they cause. These are the youths that are bringing a criminal element into the schools. As I said before, the police have been working hard at targeting the gangs as evident by the drop in crime. The gangs are trying to find ways to continue sell the drugs, and comit other crimes. Gangs still sport their colors; however, this new trend is growing. It is what it is. The police don't have any hidden motive. If you are going to dress yourself in a long white T-shirt (the shirts go down to their calf area...and yes you can buy them cheap at Walmart, but that's not their motive when they buy them), wear red or blue ties in your hair, hang out in gang areas of town with other like members, don't be suprised if you get stopped by the police...rightfully so! Which takes me to another point. This isn't necessarily a color thing. Gangs cross all ethnic lines. I'm not going to get into a racial battle with anyone here. I just wanted to clarify that we will continue to stop gang members and their associates regardless of their race if it means keeping the people of our city safe. Everyone has the right to be safe in their neighborhoods! Rhonda, you should watch the public service announcement the department made a few years ago about gangs and what to look for. Go to www.sacpd.org and click on the PSA about gangs. The gang detective in the segment is Chris Mouzis. He is our most seasoned gang detective. Listen to what he says about youths and gangs...then form your opinion of what the police are doing, and why. As for me, I do this not for personal gain. I have been writing the "Ask Officer Michelle" column for over 3 years on our department blog and in several other Sacramento periodicals. I do this because I truely believe in my department and I honestly want to help inform people with this feature. I have been with the Sacramento Police Department for almost 19 years. If there is a question or topic I don't have the expertise in, I consult the specialists who have more insight than I.

Yes we do have Community Service Officers (CSO's). They aren't sworn officers however and don't do any enforcement action. They take reports on incidents like cold burglary calls, search for missing persons or take vehicle accident reports. They are invaluable to us and help us out quite a bit.