Sheriff and fire district present year-end numbers; Loomis sees nearly 3,000 incidents in 2023

Lieutenant Josh Schindel of the South Placer sheriff's South Placer station told the Loomis Town Council that, between Jan. 1 and Dec. 31, the town experienced nearly 3,000 reported incidents and a substantial share of the station’s workload. Schindel said about 61% of the recorded calls were citizen-initiated (roughly 1,800) and about 39% were deputy-initiated (roughly 1,200), and he provided a breakdown by dispatch-priority to explain those figures.

The lieutenant described operational changes designed to increase continuity in Loomis policing: the station will earmark and allocate deputies specifically for the Town of Loomis and offer targeted training (traffic, accident investigation) so officers develop institutional knowledge of local streets, issues and community relationships. He also recognized an employee, Jeff, as sheriff’s office employee of the month for community engagement and school involvement.

A representative of the local fire district presented district call-volume figures, saying December monthly calls were in the low 300s and that district-wide annual call volume declined about 3% from 2022 to 2023. The fire official said medical aid remains the most common call type and noted that, although the district has operated with fewer stations since 2021, engine response times have improved modestly. The speaker attributed ambulance delays mainly to hospital throughput and offload times and said a new state assembly bill that takes effect in July will require reporting on those times.

Both presenters invited council questions. In response to a council question about priority definitions, the sheriff’s lieutenant explained that dispatch categories (priority 1 through 5) reflect incident severity and whether the call was officer-initiated or citizen-initiated, and he warned that officer-initiated activity can increase the share of higher-priority calls.

Councilmembers and staff discussed next steps for public-safety coordination, including potential future agenda items about camera integrations for municipal buildings and further staff reports. No formal action was taken on funding or policy during this briefing; the presenters said proposals would return to council if they require policy decisions or appropriations.