Cambria sheriff’s substation in long-term plans

Calls for law-enforcement are down in Cambria, “and that’s a good thing,” according to a Sheriff’s Department spokesman. That was just one of the stats and bits of information shared during a Jan. 16 town hall meeting held in Cambria by Sheriff Ian Parkinson.

The sheriff’s event was at the same time on the same day as the packed-house Chamber of Commerce’s celebration of citizen and business of the year and installation of officers. That scheduling clash likely kept the crowd small at the town hall, where agency representatives outnumbered those in the audience.

According to attendee Ramona Voge, members of the public at the meeting were updated by Parkinson, District Attorney Dan Dow and Supervisor Bruce Gibson about “the latest crime trends, immigration and homelessness issues, case filings at the DA’s Office, prosecution of two major human trafficking criminals and new programs and ideas planned for Cambria.”

Voge’s husband is Cmdr. Jim Voge. He heads up the Coast Substation in Los Osos, which covers the county’s unincorporated and rural coastal areas, including Cambria and San Simeon.

Also attending the town hall were members of the county posse and the Sheriff’s Advisory Foundation, plus North Coast volunteer deputies.

According to Tony Cipolla, Sheriff’s Department spokesman, Parkinson told those at the meeting that “the number of calls for service are down” in Cambria, “and that’s a good sign.”

Cipolla said there were 3,358 calls for service in Cambria in 2017, down from 3,417 in 2016.

Thefts, too “are way down (also a good sign), he said, with 47 thefts reported in 2017 and 71 in 2016.

At the meeting, “the sheriff then went on to talk about a possible substation for Cambria,” an item in Parkinson’s long-range plan. As expected, the topic generated some discussion, Cipolla said.

Parkinson “would like to have a substation on the North Coast. He believes that’s the next area where a substation should be located,” the spokesman said.

Cipolla said Nipomo will have a new substation soon “because of that area’s rapid growth and the associated issues,” and Parkinson likely would finish that substation and the jail-construction project before formally requesting the creation of a Cambria substation.

This story was originally published January 24, 2018 at 9:51 AM with the headline "Cambria sheriff’s substation in long-term plans."