FRESNO COUNTY, Calif. (KMPH) -
More than one hundred cops fanned out across Fresno County Saturday for your safety. They made surprise visits to people on probation to make sure they're staying out of trouble or it's back to jail.
"Police department. Katie, I need you to come out. Keep your hands where I can see." This was a scene that was repeated dozens of times Saturday across Fresno County.
County Probation took the lead role in "Operation Safe Streets." Seven other police agencies offered assistance. KMPH News rode along with Probation Officer Nicole Morales and her partner.
The first name on her list was going to jail for not staying in touch with his probation officer. "His girlfriend called in and indicated that there was an argument that ensued. He was using meth then he took both their two-month-old baby and went to the location we're about to respond to right now." When they arrived he wasn't home.
All of the men and women receiving visits were released early from prison. If officers determined they were breaking the law they could find themselves back behind bars.
Fresno Police Officer Justin Bell has been assigned to the beat for a number of years. "Some of them as soon as they're released take off. There's a few that actually do the program. Actually are trying to get better but that's very few and far between."
are 13–hundred people in Fresno County on probation due to early release. County Probation says monitoring them is labor intensive. Nicole Morales spent most of the morning knocking on doors in Southwest Fresno. "It appears he was transported from county jail to Wasco and then transferred over to federal custody for some weapons charges. So at this point the information that we have he is in custody in Reno. In this case one more name scratched off the probation monitoring list.
"Operation Safe Streets" was responsible for serving 200 search warrants Saturday for men and women in the county on probation.
