A rural Josephine County town plans to make up for the lack of police officers by installing security cameras that will be monitored by volunteers.
Sheriff鈥檚 deputies patrol Cave Junction 鈥� a rural city with nearly 2,000 people 鈥� during the day, but the city doesn鈥檛 have any patrols at night. If someone calls 9-1-1 in the middle of the night, they鈥檒l likely have to wait at least 45 minutes before a state trooper shows up.
The city instead has a group of volunteers, called CJ Patrol, that patrols the city at night. City recorder Rebecca Patton says the city plans to install security cameras in public spaces so these volunteers can have more eyes on the streets.
鈥淭hey could spend more time in the residential areas patrolling and making sure no one鈥檚 walking around and breaking into windows,鈥� Patton says.
The cameras will be installed on city-owned street lights in parts of downtown.
CJ Patrol volunteers aren鈥檛 formally trained and don鈥檛 receive background checks. Still, Patton says she might do 鈥渟ome sort of background check鈥� before giving volunteers access to public security cameras.
The group has served as a sort of neighborhood watch for the city for years. Patton says they classify 鈥渉ardcore criminals鈥� simply by looks.
鈥淭hey can identify them by the way that they dress, because they have a certain apparel that they wear all the time, or the way they walk,鈥� Patton says. 鈥淪ometimes they carry things all the time, it could be something as simple as a skateboard. They have learned how to identify these people very, very quickly, then they know how to respond.鈥�
CJ Patrol didn鈥檛 respond to a request for comment.
Josephine County voters have repeatedly turned down ballot measures that would have raised taxes for public agencies like firefighters and sheriff鈥檚 deputies. Lack of funding has caused the county to become reliant on private companies for fire protection and led to major staffing cuts at the Josephine County Sheriff鈥檚 office.
鈥淯ntil we start paying a little bit more for our services, we鈥檙e going to get what we pay for,鈥� Patton says.
After the county sold one of its properties in 2017, it gave $105,000 to Cave Junction. The city will use part of those funds on security cameras and better lighting in downtown. It will also implement a 3-to-1 matching grants program to provide additional security cameras and lights to small downtown businesses.
