Tehachapi 'does not tolerate crime'

Tehachapi Chief of Police Kent Kroeger said the police department has made great progress in 2016 with the opening of the Police Communications Center on July 1 and the formation of the non-profit Tehachapi Police Foundation.

"Being in-house has improved our efficiency," Kroeger said of the new communications (dispatch) center at the Dec. 28 Kiwanis Club of Tehachapi meeting at Don Juan's Grill. "We are self-contained and open 24 hours."

Until the center opened at the new TPD headquarters at 220 West C Street, the department had contracted with the Bear Valley Police Department for all dispatch calls. The TPD center also enables the department to function as a disaster coordination center. At night, the window at the dispatch center is where people can go for help.

The Tehachapi Police Foundation, Kroeger said, benefits the police department and gives back to the community. The Foundation sponsors "Shop with a Cop" for youngsters and supports the police department volunteer and Explorer Scout programs. It is engaged in planning a golf tournament and an event to honor the officer of the year. Kroeger (pronounced KRAYger in the German manner) is proud of the professional development of the department staff. Four of the sworn staff have been promoted to sergeant, three of whom were among the original officers when the TPD re-formed after the city declined to renew its contract with the Kern County Sheriffs Office in 2007.

"We are fortunate in this community," he said. "We don't have anti-law enforcement sentiments. The city supports the police department. The community does not tolerate crime."

He said his officers are assertive in pursuing criminal behavior. Even with the changes brought on by California propositions 47 and 57, which softened punishments and reduced many felonies to misdemeanors, he said, crime in Tehachapi has dropped 14 percent from last year.

"Drug problems have reduced significantly over the last couple of years," he said. The police frequently encounter the same people in the course of their work, even if the lawbreakers live in nearby communities.

"My guys, they know them all – where they live, who their girlfriends are..."

Kroeger said that social media can produce the perception that crime is worse than it is. "The same things were happening before, but there was no social media," he said.

There are no detectives on the force at the moment. Each officer does his or her own detective work.

"My guys work a case from beginning to end. They do the follow up, submit it to the DA. It's challenging while working patrol. They do a great job of managing their cases."

He said the busy Love's Travel Stop sees activity in the form of disturbances and retail thefts but has not presented serious ongoing crime problems. "There have been no instances of human trafficking, no prostitution."

To avoid credit card scams, he advised people to "use cash or a credit card with a low limit and to pay at the register."

Kroeger, 52, joined the TPD as chief in July, 2014.