It probably seemed like a good idea at the time.
Nearly all of the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department homicide squad – 12 detectives and one sergeant – decided to celebrate a colleague's retirement on a recent weekday with a Bay Area fishing trip.
The squad quietly brokered a deal with Sacramento city police to cover any homicides in the county's jurisdiction for a 24-hour period, beginning Sept. 24.
But later that day, a man was killed in a homeless encampment in the south county. Within 13 hours, another was killed in the same area.
The two homicide cases brought city police detectives to the scene – and brought the under-the-radar agreement to the attention of one very interested and unhappy individual – Sacramento County Sheriff John McGinness.
"The arrangement didn't make it to my office. I would have shot it down," McGinness said Thursday. "This has never happened before and it will never happen again. I've told them to cease the practice."
Officer Konrad Von Schoech, a city police spokesman, said Thursday that his department has covered for the county in the past and would probably cover for it in the future.
When told of the sheriff's comments, he said: "Maybe this was the first time we caught a homicide while we were covering for them."
Police Chief Rick Braziel said he applauded the history the Police Department and Sheriff's Department have of cooperation and covering for each other.
He said his department has never questioned the reasons for Sheriff's Department requests, but that he and his deputy chief of operations will take a look at the protocol for future requests.
"I guarantee we will not be asking the Sheriff's Department to cover for us for something like this, nor have we ever," Braziel said.
He also commended McGinness "for stepping up and saying it isn't right."
On a typical day, at least four county detectives and a supervisor would be available to take cases, said Tim Curran, a Sheriff's Department spokesman.
At 6 a.m. that Wednesday, the county's homicide bureau boarded a boat for some deep-sea fishing with longtime Detective Ed Newton, who was retiring.
All took a personal vacation day for the trip, Curran said.
About 3:30 p.m. that same day, a 38-year-old man was found shot to death in a dry field off 47th Avenue in south Sacramento – a well-established homeless encampment by the light-rail tracks.
"I got a call that there was a fresh homicide, but found out the city was handling the case," McGinness said. "I thought to myself, 'What were they thinking?' "
According to Curran, one sheriff's sergeant who stayed behind that day assisted city police in the case.
The next day, Sept. 25, a 39-year-old man was found dead in the same area, killed by blunt force trauma. City police also took this case.
When puzzled reporters asked why city detectives were investigating homicide cases in the Sheriff's Department jurisdiction, they got vague replies.
City Police Sgt. Matt Young, who was fielding questions at the scene, said his department was covering for sheriff's detectives, who had worked so much overtime they needed time off.
City police this week made an arrest in one of the killings. The Sheriff's Department will take over the second case, McGinness said.
McGinness said that sharing resources for K-9 units, aviation and SWAT are common. What's hasn't occurred, he said, is any kind of arrangement for one department to cover the other's homicide cases.
"The difference with homicides is they take on a life of their own," McGinness said.
McGinness said there are other sheriff's investigators who have worked homicide who should have been called in to investigate. "This should have been handled in-house," McGinness said.
Still, McGinness said he believes his detectives were well-intentioned. "They were not derelict in their duties," he said.
The sheriff said Newton was admired and the force wanted the farewell to be meaningful. The detective served 23 years, nearly eight as a homicide detective.
"Ed is an outstanding detective and human being, and it's great they wanted to do something nice for him," McGinness said.
The city has no plans to bill the county, Von Schoech said.
"We owe Sac P.D.," McGinness said. "We'll gladly work a homicide for them."
The bright side in all this?
"I understand they all enjoyed themselves on the boat," McGinness said. "No one got sick."
Call The Bee's Terri Hardy, (916) 321-1073. The Bee's Niesha Lofing contributed to this report.
