'Operation Tip the Scale' Makes 63 Arrests Across the County

Law enforcement officers and health care professionals from 20 agencies fanned out across Southeastern San Diego and East County Wednesday, including Santee, and made 57 arrests as they searched for drug offenders and those wanted for other crimes.

The 13th "Operation Tip the Scale," led by the San Diego County Sheriff's Department, include more than 200 law enforcement officers from local, state and federal agencies along with probation and treatment professionals, authorities said.

The operation included directed patrols, targeted drug sweeps, warrant arrests and drug treatment outreach services, according to the San Diego County Methamphetamine Strike Force, one of the agencies participating in the event.

Authorities said Tip the Scale was designed to engage those in need of treatment, and families and communities affected by drug-related crime. The combined outreach and enforcement detail would help ensure probationers enter court-required substance abuse treatment programs.

Affected family members were also pointed toward support services, officials said.

57 arrests were made, and 24 of those taken into custody agreed to undergo immediate drug counseling before being jailed, according to a preliminary tally.

Tip the Scale has led to more than 17,000 law enforcement contacts, 425 arrests, 208 conversations about treatment and 636 information packets distributed in the last four years, authorities said.

“We don't want to just rearrest them and put them in custody and forget about them and then they get out again and do it all over,” said Supervising Probation Officer Jason Druxman. “We want to give them options.”

-City News Service

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