Santee Sheriff’s Deputies Honored

Two deputies from the San Diego County Sheriff’s station in Santee have been honored for their exemplary performance as crime fighters.

Sgt. Tom Poulin, left, and deputy Karl Miller.

Tracking down a prolific thief who created havoc by stealing copper wire for its recycle value earned deputy Karl Miller the department’s nomination for the Alcatel-Lucent/IACP International Police Officer of the Year Award.

During a 2-month investigation, Miller compiled a solid case of evidence that led to the arrest in January of a Lakeside man and his accomplice. The primary suspect, who stole wire from cranes and other heavy equipment, caused $360,000 worth of damages and loss of materials from three construction-related businesses in East County.

Miller, who has been with the sheriff’s department for 20 years, was able to connect the perpetrator to 22 copper wire thefts. The suspect was convicted and sentenced to 22 months in state prison.

Another local sheriff’s deputy acknowledged for his record of accomplishments is Sgt. Tom Poulin.

On Aug. 23, El Cajon Elks Lodge No. 1812 presented its Deputy of the Year award to Poulin, who has supervised the 15-member detective division in Santee for the past 4.5 years.

Detectives under Poulin’s supervision were able to resolve 2,770 of the 5,500 criminal cases assigned to them over the past year.  

A hallmark of Poulin’s division has been its versatility. In the past year, his detectives nabbed a suspect responsible for passing 50 counterfeit checks at Home Depot stores, and broke a commercial burglary ring that targeted Ross stores. They participated in sweeps of registered sex offenders, and they conducted an enforcement operation at the Grossmont Center trolley station that resulted in the arrest of 22 people for warrants and drug-related offenses.