Crime & Safety

South County Deputies Help Quell Anaheim Riots

About 40 deputies from the Orange County Sheriff's Department are backing up the Anaheim Police Department. But the transfer of manpower isn't expected to hurt response time to local crime, officials say.

Cities from around the county are sending local police officers to help counter the violent protests in Anaheim following three officer-involved shootings there.

However, authorities don’t expect deputies’ response times for South County crimes to be affected by the deployments to Anaheim.

Beginning last weekend, the Anaheim Police Department activated a mutual-aid agreement to bring in outside officers to bolster the force, including about 40 Orange County Sheriff's deputies, according to OCSD spokesman Jim Amormino. Protests and a candlelight vigil tonight by Occupy Orange County activists continue to require extra manpower.

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About 20 or so deputies have been pulled from the department's South Operations Division in Aliso Viejo, he said. The rest are deputies who work in the jail system, he said.

Deputies from the Aliso Viejo station serve in the cities of Aliso Viejo, Dana Point, Laguna Hills, Laguna Niguel, Laguna Woods, Lake Forest, Mission Viejo, Rancho Santa Margarita, San Clemente, San Juan Capistrano and the unincorporated areas of Trabuco Canyon, Coto De Caza, Ladera Ranch, Wagon Wheel and Las Flores.

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Two fatal shootings in Anaheim—one on Saturday and the other Sunday—sparked four nights of protests in the city.

During demonstrations Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, police fired non-lethal rounds at demonstrators who refused orders to disperse. Some protesters set fires, smashed windows and hurled rocks and other projectiles at officers.

Twenty-four people were arrested and at least seven people, including police officer, were injured.

A third shooting Friday brought the total to three officer-involved shootings in less than a week.

Occupy Orange County activists will hold a "silent candlelight vigil" at 5:30 p.m. Friday in Stoddard Park in Anaheim in response to the recent shootings.

Although the Occupy activists initially planned to hold a protest march, the group announced plans to turn the gathering into a quieter affair just hours before the event.

The group requests "silence, humility and healing thoughts to honor all three dead young men and bring comfort rather than more chaos to these mourning families," according to a statement released by Occupy Orange County.

—City News Service contributed to this report.


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