The long arm of the law is about to get a bit shorter on the West Shore of Lake Tahoe.
Traditionally, the El Dorado County Sheriff’s Department has stationed a deputy (or two) north of Emerald Bay to watch over the western shores of the lake. This spring, that presence disappears to some degree.
‘I don’t won’t the community to panic,’ said El Dorado County Sheriff Jeff Neves. ‘We’re not turning our back on them. We’re not gonna abandon them, so-to-speak.’
Falling in line with just about everyone else in this financial sinkhole, El Dorado County is looking to trim its budget. A resident deputy for the West Shore is among the expendables.
‘We’re having to make some tough choices,’ Neves said.
As a West Shore resident, Ed Miller will miss the presence of law enforcement. But as President of the Meeks Bay Fire Protection District, he’s downright concerned.
‘This puts us in a difficult situation,’ Miller said. ‘We need a police presence up here.’
When an emergency call comes in from the West Shore portion of El Dorado County, there is currently a sheriff deputy to respond. His name is Dan Bartley; he lives on the West Shore. Until recently there was a second deputy – Dennis Miller – but he relocated to Mendocino County and will not be replaced.
When Bartley is reassigned in the spring, he or another deputy will need to drive from South Lake Tahoe to respond to any West Shore distresses. There’s a fire station in Meeks Bay, but firefighters aren’t prepared to enter into any potentially violent situation without law enforcement on site.
‘At the same time we know that someone may be bleeding out, our firefighters and medics are outside the house or pushed down the block,’ Miller said, describing a scenario without immediate response from the sheriff’s department. ‘That’s a very difficult thing to wait for – 20 or 30 minutes, or however long it takes.’
Though such a scene could possibly unfold, it may not unfold often. According to Neves, the West Shore does not merit much attention from law enforcement in comparison with other areas of the county.
‘We have very few calls occur,’ Neves said, ‘and we have very few reports that are written.’
Miller argues that it’s about more than having ample criminal activity to warrant a presence: ‘It’s not like they’re on call all day long, but they’re on patrol … there’s a lot of things that they do beyond responding to crime.’
Some residents have used a different argument to press their case for a resident deputy. With its share of high-end properties, the West Shore generates a fair amount of property tax. Some believe such a property base – the number $700 million is bandied about – deserves local law enforcement.
There is also the issue of geographical inconvenience. During winter months, the West Shore is cut off from the South Shore when the already squirrelly Highway 89 closes for heavy snows.
‘The isolation of it becomes a little bit of a problem for us,’ Neves admitted.
When the highway is open, the Sheriff said the West Shore will be like many places within his county, in that it will take a half hour for a deputy to respond to a call. But when 89 is closed, he’s not sure what the best solution might be.
‘There will be something in place for the West Shore,’ Neves assured. ‘We just don’t know what that is yet.’
One obvious direction to look is north, to Tahoe City and the Placer County Sheriff’s Department substation.
‘That is an option, yes,’ Neves said. ‘Placer County is an option.’
Lt. Allan Carter, stationed at the Tahoe City substation, said Placer County currently serves as backup for El Dorado on the West Shore. At present, they haven’t had any local staff reductions, so may be able to pick up some of the slack left come spring.
‘We’ll have to come up with a game plan,’ Carter said.
In addition to cutting their West Shore deputy, the El Dorado Sheriff’s Department is also making other trims. In all, 17 positions have been cut – and a number of programs reduced in scope – in an effort to slash between a million and $1.5 million.
Miller said he understands financial hardships befalling the department – ‘somebody’s gonna get cut somewhere’ – but thinks the West Shore community deserves and needs a deputy to call their own.
‘They know the community, they know the people, they have visibility,’ he said.
Deputy Bartley will be departing from his current post in April, at which point this issue may melt to a whisper along with any chance of snow on Highway 89. Until next winter.
