This see, click, fix incident on Kingswood Drive was addressed by the two man crew of the Citrus Heights Beautification Crew Leon Yang and James Hom. Photo by Thomas J. Sullivan

CITRUS HEIGHTS, CA (MPG) - It’s just after 8 a.m. on Thursday, Jan. 23, and the two-man crew of the Citrus Heights Beautification Crew (BC), Leon Yang and James Hom, rolls out from the city’s general services yard at 6360 Fountain Square Drive to meet up with Citrus Heights Police Department’s IMPACT unit detectives on their first service call of the day.

Today’s ride along with the Beautification Crew is coordinated by Regina M. Cave, city general services director who follows behind the brightly painted truck in her city sedan describing the types of calls I’m likely to see.

The crew also responds to frequent “see, click and fix” requests reported to the city’s general services department where no police response is needed, Cave explained.

We meet Citrus Heights Police Department Detective Felicia Taylor and Detective Michael Machado of the Impact Team in the field.  Lt. William Dunning oversees the work of the two assigned detectives who cover the city’s 14.2 square miles. Today’s focus is just on a single portion of Greenback Lane.

The two detectives said they stop to talk to individuals who might need assistance or referral to local agencies. Photo by Thomas J. Sullivan

The three-and-a-half-hour morning shift of the city’s Beautification Crew proves to be a very busy one with multiple calls.

We start with a felony arrest for an individual on probation possessing narcotics paraphernalia found sleeping on a sidewalk outside of Boost Mobile at the corner of Old Auburn Boulevard and Greenback Lane.

Many of the homeless residents I encountered on the morning patrol were well-known to detectives of the Citrus Heights Police Department Impact Team during today’s patrol round.

It is unlawful for anyone to store belongings on public property (CHMC 50-504) or on private property, without the property owner’s permission (CHMC 74-8), according to city ordinances. There is no required notice before removing abandoned property from public areas and it is subject to discarding.

During the morning shift, the Impact detectives typically make first contact with the homeless before the Beautification Crew team gets to work.

“When not paired with the Impact Team, the Beautification Crew can quickly call for backup from CHPD units in the field, whenever they need to,” Cave said. “Their safety is always paramount.”

Detective Taylor displayed the evidence that she and fellow Detective Machado found, which they had placed on the hood of her patrol vehicle.

The Beautification Crew finishes their cleanup and the two detectives waited for a time for another officer to hand off their suspect before resuming their rounds.

On the opposite side of the busy intersection of Old Auburn Boulevard and Greenback Lane, the two detectives will make two stops.

One stop is at a Sacramento RT bus shelter diagonally across the intersection. The detectives have noticed through long range binoculars a homeless person set up an encampment in the bus shelter.

The individual, once confronted by Citrus Heights Police Department Impact officers at the bus shelter does comply with their request to move along.

The Impact Team was looking for an unhoused female who had been feeding feral cats from her sidewalk encampment near what they described as a known methadone clinic.

Detectives searched around the commercial building but were unable to find her. Her encampment was then removed.

“When illegal sites are occupied or a responsible person is readily available, the Beautification Crew works with those individuals to discard unwanted refuse while allowing them to remove property of personal value,” according to a city handout.

“For the period of Jan. 1 to 21, 2025, the Beautification Crew picked up and disposed of 2.97 tons of materials,” Cave said. “And that does not include materials and personal belongings which are booked into CHPD, as you witnessed today,” she said.

In all, the city’s Beautification Crew has addressed more than 5,000 service requests since the two-person crew began addressing blight on the streets in December 2022.

Leon Yang and James Horn, members of the Citrus Heights Beautification Crew unload their truck beside a designated dumpster provided by Republic Services. Photo by Thomas J. Sullivan

The city also partners with other government agencies which have jurisdictional responsibilities within the shared borders of the city, such as Caltrans, to increase cleanup and enforcement. The Sunrise Recreation and Parks District (SRPD) works closely with the Impact Team and the Beautification Crew in areas where city streets give way to park boundaries.

The city’s shopping cart ordinance also ensures shopping carts don’t leave the sites where they belong. When they do, shopping carts can find their way into the city’s creek corridors.

“We have a rather good relationship with the major retail stores in the city and the companies they contract to return their carts,” Cave said. “Sometimes it takes a phone call or two, but they’re very good about that.” 

A city ordinance allows quicker city clean-up response by reducing the time frame necessary for the Beautification Crew of the Citrus Heights Police Department to impound shopping carts, she said.

At the 7-11 convenience store across from San Juan High School, an individual in a sleeping bag was tucked in behind a sign facing Greenback Lane. Citrus Heights Police Department Impact detectives issued a citation for trespassing at the store manager’s request.

The two detectives said they stop to talk to individuals whom they felt might need assistance or referral to local agencies.

A chronic nuisance offender program has been implemented by the Citrus Heights Police Department to prosecute chronic offenders of codes and ordinances for individuals and property. 

“Much of our work is general outreach, talking to them to see how we can be of help and connecting them to the resources they may need,” said Detective Machado.

A young couple and their dog had built an extensive encampment behind a closed church along Greenback Lane. While the couple’s dog was safely restrained, they sat on a sidewalk while Citrus Heights Police Department officers assisted the crew in loading their belongings onto the truck.

Impact Detectives and the Beautification Crew cleaned up a homeless encampment behind the Living Word Christian Fellowship Center at 6300 Greenback Lane. Photo by Thomas J. Sullivan

One “see click fix” call on Kingswood Drive off Sunrise Boulevard for a large pile of trash dumped on a sidewalk was our last call of the morning before returning to the city’s general services lot.

Beautification Crew members Leon Yang and James Holm posed for a photo in front of their truck before heading to lunch.

“It’s a lot of hard work but we take pride in helping to make the city of Citrus Heights a cleaner and better place,” Holm said.

To make a “See Click Fix” report to the City of Citrus Heights, call 916-727-4770 or visit https://seeclickfix.com/citrus-heights