Page 8
Illinois Valley News, Cave Junction, OR Wednesday, August 27, 2003
Crime ring
(Continued from page 1)
patrols. He also encour-
aged residents to join the
sheriff’s volunteer pro-
gram. There is currently
one volunteer from the
Cave Junction area, he
said.
After some discussion
about that possibility, as
well as some tense and
angry comments pointed at
the sheriff, it was decided
that a citizen committee
would be formed.
Mayor Ed Faircloth
took down names of those
who would be interested in
joining CJ citizens patrols.
Faircloth also noted
that Auborn’s hours would
be adjusted to allow for
better patrol times.
A follow-up meeting
regarding the citizens’
committee will likely be
planned for after the Labor
Day holiday.
DRILLS -- Illinois Valley
High School head varsity
football coach Bob Thorn-
hill leads members of his
offense through drills Mon-
day at IVHS (photo above).
Quarterback Josh Coronado
makes a pitch during play
drills (photo left). The Cou-
gars open their season Fri-
day, Aug. 29 at Reedsport.
(Photos by Steve Fairchild)
- Britt Fairchild con-
tributed to this story.
All is quiet in CJ during a late night C-FAC patrol
By STEVE FAIRCHILD
Staff Writer
It’s 9:30 p.m. on Fri-
day, Aug. 22 and two
members of Concerned
Fathers Against Crime (C-
FAC) are giving me a ride
in a pickup truck for a pa-
trol of Cave Junction to
keep an eye out for suspi-
cious behavior.
The two men, Darryl
and Bruce, (it is the or-
ganization’s policy to not
disclose their last names in
print) move over and give
me a spot on the bench
seat.
For the next two hours
we talk about everything
from honeymoons, Oregon
Caves National Monu-
ment, job history, the
economy, crime and fam-
ily.
This is the first time
the two men have been
sent to the city of CJ.
The group is based in
Grants Pass and has ap-
proximately 300 members
who work in eight-week
rotations.
Founded to stop crime
in Grants Pass, C-FAC has
made a dent, according to
Josephine County Sheriff
Dave Daniel, who invited
the organization to patrol
Illinois Valley when sev-
eral businesses here were
broken into and vandalized
during the last several
months.
On his lap, Darryl
holds a scanner so he can
listen to any calls sheriff’s
deputies respond to, and
offer assistance on, if
needed.
During my time with
them we don’t see any
sheriff’s vehicles or hear
calls on the scanner.
The policy of C-FAC
is to make its presence felt
in the community.
Members doing the
rounds in pairs are in-
structed to patrol the area
in their vehicle and report
any suspicious activity to
police.
They are not supposed
to get involved; just be the
“eyes and ears” of law en-
forcement.
Deputies receive a fax
in the evening that C-FAC
patrols will be out. They
receive the names of the
men and a description of
their vehicles.
The truck we are rid-
ing in is loud and con-
spicuous. To the average
citizen, we look like three
average guys driving
around town.
We drive past just
about every section of
town -- behind Shop Smart
‘Concerned Fathers’ help fight crime
By STEVE FAIRCHILD
Staff Writer
For seven years a
group known as Concerned
Fathers Against Crime (C-
FAC) has been sending its
members on late night pa-
trols to help decrease
crime in Grants Pass and
outlying areas.
With a policy of com-
plete non-involvement,
members travel in pairs
with a scanner and a cell
phone to provide extra
pairs of eyes and ears to
law enforcement.
According to Terall
Blalock, one of the found-
ing members of C-FAC,
the group shares a com-
mon bound of wanting to
keep the community free
of crime for its upstanding
citizens.
“We choose as fathers
to look after our commu-
nity and take ownership of
our parks and schools,”
Blalock said.
When Josephine
County Sheriff Dave
Daniel asked Blalock to
lend a hand to Cave Junc-
tion following a rash of
burglaries in the area, C-
FAC didn’t hesitate.
“We’re extending our
love to Illinois Valley to a
bunch of folks who don’t
know us,” he said.
Recently during public
meetings, business owners,
city officials and citizens
have complained about the
lack of law enforcement in
the city.
Cave Junction con-
tracts with the sheriff’s
office to have one deputy
in CJ for 40 hours a week.
Deputies are also loaned to
the community as needed
as a regular part of the
sheriff’s coverage of the
county.
Blalock has patrolled
I.V. at least once since C-
FAC began its patrols the
first weekend of August.
He said he is surprised at
the vulnerability of the
town.
“We observe a lot of
activity at night more than
I thought we would,” he
said. “Your community is
very different at 1 a.m. It’s
quite obvious that it is very
vulnerable (to crime).”
All the members of C-
FAC are carefully screened
by the sheriff’s office and
undergo a background
check and informal train-
ing.
On any given night
there can be one to four
cars out on the road, or
none at all. Only the police
and C-FAC know, and it
keeps the criminals guess-
ing, according to C-FAC.
So far, the program
has been a success. From
writing down license plates
numbers of suspicious ve-
hicles, to testifying in
court, C-FAC is helping to
save the community from
crime.
“C-FAC is a real good
group. They do a bang up
job for us,” Daniel said.
“I’m hoping we can get
some recruiting out there
(in I.V.) with C-FAC. As
short-handed as we are, we
need all the help we can
get.”
C-FAC is also looking
into using hand-held video
cameras and helping busi-
nesses with video surveil-
lance.
C-FAC founder and
president Bob Just was the
brainchild behind C-FAC.
He developed the group
under the direction of for-
mer Josephine County
Sheriff Dan Calvert in
1994.
Once a man is trained
as a C-FAC member, he
usually becomes more
aware of his community
even when he is not on
patrol, Blalock said.
For more information
on the Concerned Fathers
Against Crime, visit the
Web at www.c-fac.org.
Help support the Illinois Valley High School
football team and other school sports programs.
Food Warehouse, through
Jubilee Park, around Junc-
tion Inn, behind the high
school, through Laurel
Cemetery, behind and
around several churches,
around businesses on
Caves Hwy., on an ally
behind downtown busi-
nesses, by the post office,
through residential
neighborhoods, by Ever-
green Elementary School
and through several other
places in the valley.
We’re equipped with a
flashlight so we can “light
up” anybody that is acting
suspicious.
During the night we
see few suspicious people.
There are some teenagers
sitting on the curb drinking
what looks like soda near
Speedy Mart, and a couple
of cars that stop as the
drivers communicate with
each other. Besides that, it
is a quite night in Cave
Junction, just like it should
be.
I say “goodbye” and
wish Darryl and Bruce
good luck for the rest of
their night.
They will continue to
patrol the town until an
undisclosed time. C-FAC
members are scheduled to
patrol CJ and nearby areas
at least two nights per
week.
This book presented by
Senior Library Specialist
Jennifer Berubee and is
available at the I.V. Library.
Phone 592-3581
for more information.
(Public service announcement)
‘T-Rex is Missing’
Author & Illustrator: Tommie DePaola
Ages: 2 to 5
A boy accuses his friend of taking his doll T-Rex,
when it was really misplaced in the house.