RANCHO CORDOVA, CA (MPG) - The March Rancho Cordova Luncheon featured Sacramento County Sheriff Jim Cooper, who presented his talk to a packed room at City Hall.  Though born in France – his father was in the Air Force – Cooper was raised in Rancho Cordova.  “I went to Cordova Gardens, Mills, and Cordova High School, my brothers and sisters all went to Cordova, we’re all a Cordova product.”  He played football at Cordova High.  “When you have great coaching, interact with great people, they inspire you and make you want to do great things, they really give you that gumption.”  He lived in Rancho Cordova until 1989, when his work as an undercover agent took him to Elk Grove.

Cooper said that in his youth he never thought of being a cop but after talking with some off-duty deputy sheriffs, he thought they were “pretty cool,” and they told him he should take the test.  “So, I take the test,” Cooper said, “and boom! I’m there for the next 30 years.”

Cooper was elected in 2022 as Sacramento County’s 37th sheriff. In her introduction of Cooper, Shelly Blanchard, executive director of Cordova Community Council, pointed out that he achieved the rank of Captain, earned a bronze star for his role in the 1991 Good Guys hostage crisis. He was the Sheriff’s Department spokesman for four years, he was the first mayor of Elk Grove and a city councilman there for 15 years. In 2014 he joined the California State Legislature as an assemblyman, representing District 9 for nearly a decade.

“We’re excited to have Sheriff Cooper as our Sheriff,” said Rancho Cordova Chief of Police Brandon Luke.  “Even more important for the City of Rancho, we’re excited to have him as a connection . . . and the continued support that he provides for the City and the Police Department.”

The number one issue, Cooper said, is homelessness. “A big percentage are mentally ill.  If you’re mentally ill you can’t make decisions to help yourself.” Some are on drugs, “the hardest thing to get off of,” Cooper said, pointing out the difficulty in getting treatment.  “You need to have a job to have any benefits. If you don’t have any of that, you’re screwed.”  He spoke of the murders in the homeless camps, homeless on homeless, sexual assaults, drug dealing. “Because of COVID and just before that, law enforcement’s been kind of hands off on homeless communities.  The big issue was, if you really engaged anything with the homeless, then if you aren’t helping them, then obviously you’re ‘anti-homeless’. There’s a lot of ‘anti rhetoric’ going on, ‘anti anything’.  It’s not being anti.  If you want help, we’re going to help you. If you don’t want help, we’re going to deal with you and help you, make you want to get help, that’s really what it comes down to.”

“You know what the issues are,” Cooper said.  Besides homelessness, the results of Proposition 47 have been devastating.  “You can go to the store, and as long as you steal below $950 you can do that all day every day and not go to jail,” Cooper said.  While in the legislature, Cooper introduced a bill to reverse that. “A bunch of groups gave money and the measure got beat, it was called Prop 20 that you guys voted on in 2020.”

Early release of seriously violent inmates is an issue.  “In California what is not considered a serious or violent crime is raping and drugging a woman . . . drive-by shootings, entrapping of a child.  If I stab you or beat you with a baseball bat or a golf club – those are all considered non-violent crimes.  You’re eligible for early release.  You try to deal with trying to change that . . . instead of getting out early, let’s just do your time.”

“So, yeah, I’m kind of a tough on crime guy,” Cooper said.  “Really what it is, just not to be afraid to do what’s right, going against the grain sometimes.”

Cooper made many important points about the serious crimes and issues plaguing the community.  None of them are easy fixes, but what he said in answer to a question about education could also be applied to criminal justice.  “Degrees are great, to improve yourself,” Cooper said, “but I would rather have someone with common sense than an armful of degrees.  That’s what it comes down to is having common sense and being a reasonable person.”

Of all the things in his life that affected where he would end up, Cooper said, “The big one is my foundation . . . growing up here in Rancho Cordova. Without that I would not be where I am or have done some things I did; but I’m a Lancer – I’m a Lancer for Life.”