Pinal County growth proves challenging for law officers
| Gold Canyon Citizens on Patrol (C.O.P.) |
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| Written by Administrator | |
Volunteers patrol streets of Gold Canyon
Martin Kasindorf In the fastest-growing county in the fastest-growing state, volunteers are pitching in to patrol streets as the surging population outstrips police budgets.
Pinal County has grown 51 percent since 2000 to a population of 271,059, according to the latest census reports. The growth in the area has local officials hard-pressed to keep up. Sheriff Chris Vasquez says his 250-deputy force is 175 short of the manpower he needs. "We didn't have the infrastructure - roads, law enforcement and fire," said Lt. Doug Brown, commander of the sheriff's substation in Gold Canyon, just southeast of Apache Junction. "It outgrew us too quick. Poor planning, I guess you would say. We're trying to play catch-up now." One response is Citizens on Patrol, a group made up of 31 volunteers in Gold Canyon. The members, mostly retirees, wear distinctive blue golf shirts and drive a cast-off patrol car in this quiet, wealthy community of 22,000.
Half of Gold Canyon's deputies recently were transferred 19 miles south to serve booming new working-class communities with a population of 80,000 where officers "keep busy with family fights, thefts, burglaries, traffic offenses, carrying concealed weapons, assaults," Brown said. "With all the tremendous growth, we just wouldn't be able to operate without the volunteers."
Lacking a siren, weapons, badges or arrest powers, the volunteers are ordered to avoid confrontations. They radio suspicious doings to a dispatcher, who summons deputies. They sometimes wield a radar gun to nail speeders, but offenders get mailed warnings, not tickets. Maintaining an apparent police presence with unarmed volunteers deters crime, says Lionel Ruiz, chairman of the Pinal County Board of Supervisors. "What do you do when you see a police car on the highway even when you're going at a proper speed? You step on the brake." Brown credits Citizens on Patrol with slashing reported crimes 50 percent since September. Vasquez says he will expand the concept to two larger communities. "It's added visibility for us. It's extra eyes and ears," he said. "And, as people who live in these neighborhoods, they're in the best position to know what doesn't belong there." Half of Arizona's law enforcement agencies have turned to citizen patrols, says Arthur Femister, president of the California-based National Association Citizens on Patrol. It started in New York City in 1950 and has spurted recently to 100,000 volunteers in 3,000 units nationwide, he says. The Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks were a spur in recruiting volunteers, Femister says. Sun Belt growth like Arizona's is another big factor. California, Florida and Texas have the most volunteer units, he says. On duty in Gold CanyonStarting a two-hour shift, Rick Reynolds climbs into the volunteer program's Ford Taurus with partner Bob Meinecke. Reynolds radios their identification numbers to the dispatcher 25 miles south in Florence, the county seat.
"Citizens on Patrol 38 and 36. We are 10-7 out here at Gold Canyon," Reynolds says in police code. The dispatcher politely tells Reynolds that the correct code for "in service" is 10-8. She reminds him that 10-7 means "out of service." "I'm sorry, 10-8," he says. It's hard to blame Reynolds, 48, for the lapse in lingo. Before he retired as a General Motors test driver in Fenton, Mich., and moved to Arizona in November, he "never had any thought about being in any kind of police work," he says. Reynolds read about the need for volunteers and signed up. Volunteers receive eight hours of classroom training and an evasive-driving course. Reynolds says he enjoys patrolling so much that he'd like to apply to be a deputy. "Talking my wife into it is another thing," he says. The Taurus has clocked more than 100,000 miles and is no longer safe at high speeds, Vasquez says. The volunteers who have shared the car since the program started in September may get a second car when their number reaches 65, Brown says. That is expected soon. "I enjoy living in a very safe community," says Meinecke, 68, a retired businessman who moved to Gold Canyon from Scottsdale 12 years ago. 'Boring is good'Meinecke heads the car out of the station. The partners slowly troll gleaming shopping centers and residential neighborhoods at the foot of the Superstition Mountains.
A big local crime problem is car break-ins to steal stereos, Brown says. Reynolds and Meinecke check parked cars for smashed windows. They check vacant stores that copper thieves might target. Waved into a gated development of multimillion-dollar homes, they look for signs of burglary. The action that volunteers have seen there is modest. Brown credits them with getting information from witnesses that led to a man's arrest involving a theft of coin machines from a carwash. Some other past reports: A woman ran over three javelinas, and volunteers had to tote the dying animals off the highway. A motorcyclist was urinating alongside the road. A woman reported that a man was stealing saguaros, an offense carrying a $10,000 fine. On a recent 90-degree day, the streets are peaceful. "In this job, boring is good," Meinecke says. "It means you're making an impact." NOTE - If you live in Gold Canyon and want more details or to become involved as a volunteer for the C.O.P. (Citizens on Patrol) program contact Pat Prince at
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