San Diego County Sheriff’s Encinitas Station

I am blown away by the absolute unprofessionalism at this station. I was sitting and waiting for a Sheriff to write a report about my car getting broke into and, as I was waiting I couldn’t help but hear the comments coming out of the front staffs mouths about people as they would leave out the door. They were as it seemed «making fun» of people or saying rude things regarding them or their situation that they came in needing HELP for. You are a community servant, there to SERVE the general public, not there to degrade or make yourself feel superior. Absolutely disgusting and disgraceful. I will be reporting to Citizens Law Enforcement Review Board.

I have experienced a high level of service and professionalism from this dept on more than one occasion. Officers have been consistently very polite and respectful to me. They have also always shown a willingness to help, and are even friendly and relaxed in their demeanor (which isn’t common in this line of work and is even surprising to me). People usually only call the police when they are pissed off, and the police aren’t always happy to come. However, the couple of times I have dealt with them, regardless of the circumstances, they showed up with a very professional attitude.

After driving to thee police stations and getting the run around while trying to pay a fix it ticket, I ended up here. The receptionist was amazing and helped me to understand the legal terms of my ticket and understand the actions I needed to take. Way better than trying to get a hold of the silly California court system. Paying a ticket is never fun but if you have to do it go to these guys :)

Two power tripping mutual mastorbators, arrogant not real police woke me and my friend from sleep in my van. I’ve been traveling around the USA since I lost my job and congress ended unemployment insurance looking for a job and place to settle.
This was on C street where apparently some people park and neck or whatever also a few vanners occasionally get a nights rest.
I’ve been rousted several times in various towns including Carlsbad, Boulder co and a couple other places Sedona az but always treated civilly and as a routine police contact never ticketed sometimes after being checked out told to go back to sleep or directed to a better less conspicuous place to spend the rest of the night.
Not these guys they were really getting off on playing hard cop, «don’t ever let me catch you in my town» I throw all your crap on the street next time” real aholes. Very confrontational trying their best to escalate what should have been routine into an opportunity for using more force and intimidation. Officer gave me his badge number when I asked #5379 then he started backing off saying he wasn’t threatening me but he certainly was prior. They hung a sheet from their trunk and had us both stand at 3 in the morning for photos in the street. Unbelievable, at a time when so many like myself are sleeping in our cars after losing homes and jobs in the Great Depression.
Serve and protect not intimidate and power trip!
I admire and appreciate those men/​women in blue who serve the community with integrity and respect the police who can discriminate between public nuisance and personal threat. with power comes responsibility some do not deserve the trust they have been given in wearing the uniform and gun.
My guess is the culture reflects top command attitude.

Mention the Encinitas Sheriff at a cocktail party in North County San Diego and you will get an ear full of horror tales that will go on for hours… tales of smug, arrogant, abusive, power trip officers who lie and violate the laws. There is a lot of «who you know» favors in that place… where someone gets off the hook because they know someone at the station. My own story involved my car being illegally towed from a friends condo. No need to go into details… the issue with them was that I called the Sheriff to verify the tow and to verify that the tow company had violated the 10 mile radius law and therefore had illegally towed and stored my car. The Sheriff deputy I spoke to really got into this and checked things out and calculated the radius, etc. He said, you are correct, they illegally towed your car, etc. The deputy even added that according to their records, this towing company had a history of illegal tows and there was a notation about it. So I approached the towing company and then the homeowner association with my information and that the Sheriff had confirmed that there was a violation on their part and not mine. The homeowner association said it was between me and the towing company. The towing company said they would get back to me. The towing company then called and said that they did not do an illegal tow. I went to the Sheriff station to get something in writing from the deputy sheriff I spoke to who had backed me up 100%. All of a sudden his tune changed and he started back peddling (other sheriff people and deputies were around and listening) and denying he said what he said to me. Well, obviously the Sheriff is getting some payola from the towing company… the deputy denied everything he said to me before and would not confirm anything or help me in any way.
When I spoke to the towing company later the guy laughed and said he has friends at the Encinitas Sheriff department.

I’m giving the local sheriff’s dept 5 stars, because of your review Alisa (and because they work pretty darned hard). According to your complaint, officers had to respond not once, but twice to complaints about your little party. What a waste of time — it’s no wonder the second officer had to come down on you a little harder. They probably had real crime to fight. Seriously. Maybe someone should be posting reviews of you as a neighbor.

My boyfriend and I used to live in a house in San Marcos. Since then I have moved to Bankers Hill and recently relocated Downtown. The address listed with the DMV is my banker’s hill address. (Yes this is relevant to the story). The house in San Marcos is now occupied by my boyfriends friend/​coworker.
On Tuesday, April 3^rd my boyfriend called me from work (I was at home sick) to tell me that the Sheriff’s department had gone to the house in San Marcos and told the tenant (again, my boyfriends friend/​coworker) that they had video surveillance of me stealing purses from a TJ Maxx in Encinitas several days in a row. We were both astonished. As I am innocent and have nothing to hide (not to mention I haven’t been to Encinitas since I moved from there over a year ago and my boss can vouch that at the time one of these «videos of me» was taken I was sitting at my desk at work), I called the sheriff’s department. I spoke to a detective whose name was something like «Berlinksky» who informed me that there was video of me shoplifting. After I informed him that wasn’t possible because I was at work we figured out that the car he had traced me by actually was a car I have for my mother that’s under my name. My mother does work in Encinitas and frequents TJ Maxx. My mother also will give a clerk a nickel back if they give her 5 cents too much change at a register. So then, he starts declaring that «Oh well we have video of your mother at TJ Maxx stealing purses and we need to find her.» When I tried to tell him that there’s no way she would do that he insisted that the evidence stands and went so far as to say «I could tell you what she looks like.» So I gave him my mother’s name and address and phone number. The whole time that I was being forthcoming and trying to help him with as much information as I could (lets not forget I electively called him instead of waiting for him to find me) this guy is being a major asshole and is just abrasive (which I understand in his line of work he probably gets people all day that are not compliant but when someone IS complying and trying to help maybe being LESS of a dick than normal would be a good call huh?). I called my mother and brought her up to speed. She immediately calls in and talks to the same guy who somehow within this 20 minute span now has a completely different story saying that he actually hasn’t seen the footage yet and they are just calling on cars that were in the parking lot when this happened.
He (on his own grounds and as a representative of the SD County Sheriff’s Encinitas Station) was unprofessional and surely didn’t inspire any confidence in our law enforcement personnel. I can’t imagine in what world it is acceptable for a detective to declare that they have inarguable evidence (you know that video surveillance of me that turned out to be my mom that turned out to not have even been viewed yet?) and stir up people’s lives like this only to not actually have anything solid to go off of.
When I spoke to an alternate detective on the case (Detective Do) all he really had to say was «well it wasn’t me that said that and maybe you just caught Berlinksy on a bad day or something.» Id love to show up and one of these jackoffs house and tell their wives that I have video of their husband cheating and then later say «well i haven’t actually seen the video and also you just caught me on a bad day»
Again, I find this department in my recent dealings with their representatives to be incompetent, unimpressive and to be frank-​the one detective was a blatant liar.
North county would do better to have their crimes investigated and solved by Inspector Gadget. At least he’s got that cool helicopter hat.
Also, my mom and I would still LOVE to see that video surveillance of me/​her stealing purses. Thanks.

Hey Sandy J., did you think of pulling over on a side street, legally? Maybe into one of the dozens of parking lots on ECR? Of course not. I hate that your review taints the overall rating.
Anyway, I love the Sheriff’s Department. I find (most of) the deputies helpful and understanding. While I agree that there are always bad apples who ruin a barrel, and there probably are some deputies out there on a power trip, the majority of the Sheriff’s deputies (Encinitas and elsewhere) are just normal guys trying to do their job and keep San Diego County safe. If you ever think they’re being over the top or aggressive, stop and take a second to think — you pull someone over with absolutely NO idea who they are, what they have in their car, what crime they’ve just committed, what weapon they may have concealed in their pants, or whether or not they’re law enforcement friendly. I don’t know about you, but it would scare me to have to take that risk multiple times a day. Give these guys & gals some slack!

BAD WITH GUNS, BAD WITH TRAFFIC. WHAT ARE WE PAYING FOR?
The worst police in San Diego. From the Andy Griffith answering service, to a complete disregard for victim’s welfare, if you got a problem in this town, solve it yourself.
HIT & RUNS…
This department has a policy of «if you don’t have a license plate #, we won’t open an investigation.» That’s a direct quote from Deputy Brenda Wiebe. After I witnessed my truck being smashed into a pole, that’s the response I got from her, when she showed 40-​minutes later on a weeknight (tuff traffic for three blocks, eh).
Other choice phrases… «the recession is causing an increase in hit & runs.» And my favorite «we’ve only caught 2 of the recent 10 hit & runs.» That’s an «F» in my grade book, kids. 20% of the one’s you’ll actually go after? Wow.
End result, I had to pay $ 1000 to get my truck fixed. And the deputy stopped returning my calls after I supplied her with a second potential lead.
GUN PROBLEMS…
My sister (former employer of the city) was recently trapped in the local rec center, when a gang shootout occurred. The security guard on duty requested assistance from the police who showed up and waited outside. Their response heard over the guard’s walkie-​talkie… «Let them shoot it out, we’re just here to clean up the mess.» …
Luckily, no one was hurt. But, presumably, no one was caught either. Shame on you Encinitas Sheriffs.
In short, we live in a pretty town, where little enough crime happens that sheriffs are allowed to get away with gross negligence and complete apathy. Of course, that’s just my opinion.

I had a 40^th birthday party for one of my friends this past weekend and even though the band we had playing in the backyard was reggae and low key one of my neighbors called the sheriff, twice! If this review was for the first deputy I would give it 5 stars. He was polite, calm and just stated that someone called and he had to respond. He saw no problem and we could keep going like this for all night. Wished my friend a happy birthday and was on his way.
The next deputy was a humongous power tripper. Said that all my neighbors were willing to sign an arrest warrant if I didn’t shut down the band. (This was 8:30 pm) How about just saying hey obviously a neighbor is bummed out about the band can you turn it down or tell them to stop. No need to threaten with arrest. It’s not like I’m an underage rager partying while my parents are out of town.
I’ve lived here for 10 years and this is the first time the cops were called. At least I knew I had a successful party. ;)

Beware and be warned! I am writing to all those who either live in Encinitas, CA and/​or will travel through the main areas. There is a cop named MAG Wood who will intimidate you, threaten you and scream at you if he believes you have broken the law.
In May 2009 I was on my way to the doctor’s office, stopped briefly in a median on El Camino Real, turned off the motor of the car, put on my flashers and attempted to phone the doctor’s office to get better directions to get to the office.
He drove his police car behind my car, would not help to get me to the doctor’s office, ordered me to turn right on a side street.
The upshot of this unbelievable situation is that he ticketed me for being in the median (this is definitely not what one wants to do), talking on my cell phone for a medical necessity to get to a doctor’s office, and running a red light after I was directed to make a right hand turn onto a side street. I was delayed for more than 20 minutes and never did get to see the doctor.
When it came to being in court, the commissioner (judge) sided with the police officer. We as consumers are not safe on the roads if we get into difficulty. Recall, I was not driving, not speeding, not drinking as it was the middle of the afternoon.
The State of California is financially broke and the officers will get you for what ever mis-​demeanor they can fine you for. The court system sucks, and I never, but never got a notice from the court to appear.
To my fellow citizens, be careful, be diligent, watch out for the Sheriff’s department in Encinitas, CA. Even with an attorney, it was the officer’s word against what my attorney and myself had to say in court. This was expensive and we citizens are truly the victims

These people are some of the nicest people that I have ever met.
I have met them around town in Encinitas and they are always doing such an wonderful job keeping the peace around the town. (I know that sounded kinda lame, but they really are really cool people!)
I came here one night after finding someone’s purse at the YMCA (does a little dance) and then didn’t know what to do with it. The YMCA offices were all closed, and so I drove down to the Encinitas Sheriff’s Department Office, to only find that no one was there.
I called the number on the door for non-​emergencies and talked to this lady who then said she would send a patrol car out to me and just to wait patiently. So when he arrived, I got out of the car, and he flashed his lights at me, and told me to put the bag on the car, and to keep my hands where he could see them. He then approaches me, and I’m just about to ish myself, because I just want to make sure this bag is safe… and he then looks at the bag and finds the ID and returns it. He then takes down my information, and I’m just again, about to ish myself, because I have no idea what to do, or what is going on.
overall, I understand the steps that he needed to take to be safe and all, but it was just an interesting experience.