Happy Valley citizen patrol watching backs

Photo by Paul Robeson

EYES AND EARS: Standing beside their Happy Valley Citizen Volunteer Patrol car are (left to right) Irwin Fust, Ron Bailey, Ermel Jones, Marjorie Jones, Connie Heard and Donna Lucas.

They look, they listen, they roam the roads and streets in Happy Valley — they have a commitment to community.

The Shasta County Sheriff’s Citizen Volunteer Patrol (CVP) program was established in 1996 and is a community-based crime prevention program “exercising proactive law enforcement principles.”

The program is designed to “provide supplemental detection and reporting of suspicious persons and activities to the Shasta County Sheriff’s Office,” said Ermel Jones, Lieutenant of the organization.

“There are 22 members in the unit and we are the ‘ears and eyes’ of the Shasta County Sheriff’s Office (SCSO),” said Jones.

“We conduct welfare checks and check on homes when someone is away on vacation,” Sgt. Ron Bailey added.

The patrol group, which rides in two and four-hour shifts, has assisted stranded motorists and provided assistance with programs at the two elementary schools and high school. They have assisted the elderly who have been lost from retirement and health care homes. The patrol also alerted the SCSO to a major dumping incident which resulted in the offending parties being arrested.

Ermel Jones and Bailey are the two elected officers of the Happy Valley Citizen Patrol program which is made up of civilian volunteers, residents of Shasta County, who want to serve their community and the SCSO.

Happy Valley’s CVP started in 1996 and the volunteers steadily declined until the year 2000 when new commitments were made to serve the rural community west of Anderson.

“The Happy Valley CVP provided the security for the recent Big Bike Weekend and for the Hot-Orama Car Show,” said volunteer Irwin Fust.

The members, who range from the mid-40s to the mid-70s in age, furnish their own uniforms and the gasoline for the vehicle provided by the SCSO. So far this year they have clocked over 2,035 hours or 8,261 miles driving, seven days a week around the community, which comprises some 20,000 acres or around 32 sq. miles. Over $6,000 has been spent on gasoline and car maintenance to date.

In order to pay for these costs, besides any monetary donations to the group, the CVP holds two major fundraisers in the Happy Valley community each year. One event is at the Strawberry Festival and the other is the upcoming Chili for the Chills event on Friday, Nov. 2, at the Happy Valley Community Center.

For more information about the Chili for the Chills, contact Marge Jones at 357-3829.

In addition to the CVP in Happy Valley, there are active CVPs serving in the communities of: Burney, the City of Shasta Lake, Cottonwood, Fall River Mills, Shingletown, and on the Shasta Lake Boat Patrol.

If you are interested in applying to be a member of a Citizen Volunteer Patrol, contact Coordinator Arnie Brinton at (530) 347-3621.