City Considers Consolidation of Citizen Watch Groups

Last night prior to the city council meeting, Riverside County Sheriff's officers Capt. Jim McElvain and Lt. Mike Lind, gave a presentat...

Last night prior to the city council meeting, Riverside County Sheriff's officers Capt. Jim McElvain and Lt. Mike Lind, gave a presentation on Crime Watch programs currently existing in the City of Menifee.

Their goal was to get the city to pick up the tab on paying for Crime Watch.

Currently, the Sheriff is paying for it, and according to both McElvain and Lind, the Sheriff is not going to pay for it anymore.

Right now, there are three Crime Watch programs that patrol within the city's boundaries. Sun City Crime Watch, Quail Valley Crime Watch, and Harvest Valley Citizens Patrol.

Sun City Crime Watch currently relies on funding from the Sheriff, and receives patrol vehicles from the Sheriff as well. Quail Valley Crime Watch is small enough that right now, funding comes from its own members, and they use their personal vehicles. Harvest Valley Citizens Patrol relies on funding from Bingo games.

In all, about $55,000.00 per year is needed to keep these three groups operational in their current size and form. Now that the Sheriff is ceasing funding, these groups may dissolve if the city doesn't pick up tab.

Council members voiced confusion on that note, claiming that the city's existing contract with the Sheriff already provides for Crime Watch. "I distinctly remember seeing Crime Watch in the first year's police budget", councilmember Twyman said, which councilmembers Denver and Edgerton both agreed. "But I think in the second year it may have been removed", Twyman went on to say.

Capt. McElvain didn't elaborate on whether or not Crime Watch was supposed to be included as part of its services for the City, he only explained that as of right now it's not, and that if the city doesn't pick up the tab, Crime Watch may disappear.

The mood on the city council seems to be that they want Crime Watch to continue, and it seems like when the matter is put on the agenda, it'll pass.

However, Capt. McElvain went on to recommend that the city consolidate all three Crime Watch groups into one single group that can patrol all of Menifee. Doing so would eventually mean the costs would escalate from the existing $55,000.00 a year estimate, but even then that much money still seems nominal.

This discussion was done as part of a presentation, and not as part of an official city council meeting. The council will need to put this on the agenda for an upcoming meeting, but no word yet on when that will happen.

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  1. Isn't Crime watch, like Neighborhood watch, a volunteer organization? I don't think it should be city funded at all. We already contract with the Sheriff for city wide patrols, these volunteer groups should have their own fund raisers for the neighborhoods they service.

    I don't like the idea of 'consolidating' them, that defeats their purpose and effectiveness. One of the reasons the 3 areas have a focus is because the neighbors have a special interest in and understanding of what's out of synch in their neighborhood.

    I know the neighborhood watch groups often have a member that covers each street and a sign when there are enough members to pay for the sign. Keeping it local maintains a sense of ownership within the community in the program. By consolidating the groups and then taking on the funding of radios and cars for volunteers, I think it would undermine the groups purpose and scope.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I'm not sure consolidation is a great idea either, I think it would take away the pride that fuels the impetus behind citizen watch groups.

    However, the watch groups we have now all do fundraisers already, except for Quail Valley in which volunteers are spending personal money. Moreover, the Sheriff is currently providing the vehicles and the vehicle maintenance, and is not willing to do it anymore.

    So, if these groups are forced to buy their own cars, and pay for their own maintenance, the groups will cease to exist.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I don't think they would cease to exist without funding or a county/city vehicle. Groups like this had an incentive that keeps volunteers active and committed. I'm sure that a few magnetic signs to replace the 'company' patrol car would be just as effective.

    ReplyDelete

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