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She says her group has tracked down stolen property, including several cars, and even helped deputies arrest a man on drug charges. Despite her differences with Gilbertson, she won't let people post rants about the sheriff's department. And she says her group serves a vital function. "When you have tweakers and drugs, you're going to have thefts and burglaries," she said, citing methamphetamine abuse as the root of many of the property crimes in the area. Dickson says there isn't enough space in the county jail and that deputies don't pursue property crimes as they should. She said criminals "know they aren't going to get punished." She added, "Nobody gets arrested. Nobody gets charged." Josephine County, population about 83,000, recently lost $12 million in federal timber county subsidies. The jail, sheriff's patrols, prosecutors, probation officers and juvenile programs have all been drastically cut. The lockup has room for 69 inmates
-- only enough space for the worst offenders. As a result, theft and burglary suspects are regularly turned loose, only to be picked up later for new crimes. But neither Nichols nor Dickson think the sheriff would do a better job of protecting their end of the county with more resources. They both voted no on a tax proposal to make up the $12 million loss and say they would do so again if county commissioners brought the issue back up. Their independent streak is fairly common in the area just north of the California border, which was settled during the gold rush of the 1850s and has been proudly self-reliant ever since with loggers, hippie communes and survivalists maintaining the reputation. To this day residents in the area consistently vote conservative.
Much of the land is dotted with abandoned mining camps, overgrown with trees and brush. The timber county has just one remaining sawmill in operation. At the O'Brien crossroads, a flashing yellow light and a '50s-era police car, parked permanently on the shoulder, slow what passes for traffic in front of the general store, post office, gas station, restaurant, and RV park. There also is a bar with a sign proclaiming, "Bikers Welcome." Nichols says he decided to start the patrols after someone stole a travel trailer from his property over the summer. He called a community meeting in August and wore a .38 special revolver, handed down from his father, in a leather holster on his belt. About 100 people showed up, one of whom recognized a photo of his trailer and knew where it had been stashed. Gilbertson, however, declined to try to retrieve it. "I didn't have the resources to deal with it at that time," the sheriff said. "Pretty much, what we're doing now is person-to-person crime." In response, members of the CAC Patrol have taken to slapping magnetic gold stars and flashing amber lights on their vehicles to keep watch over the community on their own. Many carry pistols and plastic ties for handcuffs. "If we stand shoulder to shoulder, they don't have a chance," Nichols said. "And that's what we're doing."
[Associated
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