KUSI features the first "Operation Tip the Scale" in Poway and Ramona.

The Sheriff's Department led the first "Operation Tip the Scale" in Poway, Ramona and adjacent communities in the city of San Diego on Wednesday, March 16th. Deputies along with agents and officers from 12 partner agencies conducted directed patrols, drug sweeps, warrant arrests, probation and parole checks and drug-treatment outreach....

This latest operation resulted in 26 targets searched and 32 arrests including 13 felony arrests and 12 drug arrests and one juvenile arrest. 81 percent of those arrested – 26 people – sat down with a certified drug counselor to receive information about getting treatment for drug addiction. Tip the Scale team members also distributed 32 resource packets to friends and family members of drug users.

The overall intent of Tip the Scale is to bolster community safety through increased contact with at-risk individuals such as drug users, probationers and parolees; and to provide increased outreach for those in need of drug treatment. The San Diego Sheriff’s Department and its partner agencies launched Operation Tip the Scale as a high-visibility pilot program in spring 2009. They did so with the understanding that drug-related problems can’t be fought solely by making arrests.