Capt Bolin joined the Sheriff’s Department in 1985. He was promoted to Lieutenant in 2000 and Captain in 2012. He is now Commander of the Lomita Sheriff’s Station, which is contracted to provide law enforcement services to Lomita, Rancho Palos Verdes, Rolling Hills, and Rolling Hills Estates. (68% of its budget is for RPV.) The Lomita Sheriff’s Station opened in 1975.
 
The Station’s personnel includes administrative staff and volunteers as well as sworn law enforcement officers. Among the specialized units are the Surveillance and Apprehension Team, which can be called out at any time to gather information on suspects and blend into the community with unmarked cars. He reviewed a dramatic case where a dangerous suspect was surreptitiously followed out of a crowded commercial area to a safer area without alarming him, and then was apprehended before he could escape onto the freeway.
 
 
Other units include a Community Resource Team for public relations and school presentations, a Mounted Posse which participates in ceremonies and patrols trails in Palos Verdes, and volunteers (60 of them, not all of whom are on patrol), who help by watching high-crime-activity areas and reporting suspicious activity without becoming personally involved. The Law Enforcement Explorer Program is a Sheriff's Department youth-oriented program affiliated with the Boy Scouts.
 
The crime rate in RPV over the last 10 years has fluctuated but remained basically stable. Traffic citations in RPV are decreased since 2007. Calls requesting law enforcement service in RPV are representative of the level of crime activity. Capt Bolin discussed several cases to illustrate the tactics and technology used to apprehend suspects. One of the newest technologies is an automatic license-plate scanner that scans all of the plates in traffic near the patrol car and checks them against a database for any reported crime-related vehicles. Sometimes several patrol cars are called to converge on a suspect car before initiating a confrontation for possible apprehension.
 
Proposition 47, responding to concerns about jail overcrowding and mandatory early release of dangerous criminals, has reduced penalties for crimes such as petty thefts and simple possession of drugs, resulting in earlier release of these people and sometimes more frequent recycling back into criminal activity. The long-term effects of this are evolving.
 
Sheriff’s Department community outreach includes soliciting input on how to improve Sheriff’s services. The National Night Out has block parties that can be visited by Deputies on duty to improve 2-way communication with the community. If you see something (suspicious), say something; report it and protect your neighborhood. Keep cars locked when parked and don’t leave articles inside in plain sight. Protect your home with locks, secure doors and windows, don’t answer strangers at the door, and monitor workers in your home. Also, the Sheriff’s Department is recruiting and hiring applicants from age 19½.