In Oregon, a Demand for Safety, but Not on Their Dime

GRANTS PASS, Ore. — It might be well established by now that money cannot buy happiness. But can it buy public safety?

If you ask Sgt. Todd Moran of the Grants Pass police, the answer is unquestionably yes. Burglaries were up almost 70 percent last year in his city of 35,000 about an hour north of the California border. Theft cases, up almost 80 percent. And at least part of the reason, he said, is an awareness by criminals that their actions are increasingly without consequences in cash-starved Josephine County, where the jail the city depends on is mostly closed for lack of money.

Even a felony suspect arrested with stolen goods or drugs in hand is usually just given a citation and released. Better financing for the county’s jails and prosecutors is the only way forward, Sergeant Moran said.

“It’s just broken,” he said as he drove through town on a recent afternoon patrol.

Now drive an hour south and meet Sam Nichols and Glenn Woodbury, who volunteer with a group called Citizens Against Crime. They say that financial troubles are in fact strengthening the community and that citizen crime patrols like theirs are proving that money — meaning higher taxes — is not the solution.

They began patrolling the back roads of the county last summer after staffing at the sheriff’s office was gutted by budget cuts. With local residents on watch, crime rates in their area have fallen to near zero, said Mr. Nichols, a retired marina manager, as he drove on a recent evening, with Mr. Woodbury in the passenger seat shining a spotlight into the woods and winding dark driveways.

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With the fiscal year that started on July 1, the Josephine County Sheriff’s Office now has exactly one deputy left available for general calls in a county of 83,000 people — down from a high of 22 at full staffing a few years ago. Citizen applications to carry a concealed weapon, meanwhile, rose 49 percent last year, according to county records.

At grocery stores in Grants Pass, stopping and citing shoplifters — sometimes with whole carts of beer or food in tow — have become part of the daily law enforcement routine.

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Senator Ron Wyden, a Democrat from Oregon, is working on a package of bills that would expand what he called “sustainable” levels of timber cutting — and thus tax revenue — to Josephine and the other O&C counties. But that long-term relief would be years away. In the meantime, he said in an interview, he hopes to get a temporary financing package through the House and Senate by the end of this year. The State Legislature in Salem is also considering emergency rescue plans.

full: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/06/us/In-Cash-Starved-Oregon-County-Citizens-Take-Up-Patrols.html?pagewanted=all



Because of cuts to law enforcement in Josephine County, Ore., volunteers like Glenn Woodbury of Citizens Against Crime have taken up patrols. (Thomas Patterson for The New York Times)