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Illinois Valley News, Cave Junction, OR Wednesday, January 17, 2007
Cave Junction Citizens Patrol serving
as eyes, ears to help thwart criminals
By SCOTT JORGENSEN
IVN Staff Writer
It’s a quiet, cold Friday
night in Cave Junction.
Cars are covered in
frost, and ice sheets blanket
the parking lot of River Val-
ley Restaurant.
Mark Rodgers sits in his
pickup truck, which idles as
its engine roars. Rodgers
and other members of the
all-volunteer Cave Junction
Citizens Patrol (CJCP) are
wide awake as 1 in the
morning rolls around. Most
residents are asleep by now,
but Rodgers knows that he
has a long night ahead.
Rodgers is somewhat
surprised on this evening, as
a Josephine County Sher-
iff’s Office deputy sits
nearby in a patrol vehicle.
“It’s not too often that
we see cops in the parking
lot,” he said. “I can’t believe
this.”
Rodgers notices another
deputy driving south on
Redwood Hwy. as his
walkie-talkie blurts the oc-
casional bit of static. He
puts the truck in gear and
heads off to rendezvous
with other patrol members.
A short drive later, Rod-
gers and the other CJCP
members confirm multiple
deputy sightings in the area.
The news is particularly
unusual, as Illinois Valley
tends to lack a strong police
presence. But CJCP is
happy to be getting some
help, and its members split
up as soon as they’ve coor-
dinated the frequencies on
their walkie-talkies.
The evening sky is
completely clear as Rodgers
makes his way through resi-
dential neighborhoods, with
starlight shimmering on the
horizon and leftover snow
still clinging to the treetops.
Rodgers pulls out a
flashlight as he approaches
Evergreen Elementary
School. Vandals tend to tar-
get schools, Rodgers said,
but are less likely to do so if
they know someone might
be watching them.
“Bright light at night
catches people off guard,”
he observes.
Rodgers began his
CJCP involvement after a
series of vandalism inci-
dents at Jubilee Park. He felt
an obligation to help make
the community safer, and he
began patrolling the city on
foot.
It may be easy for some
to mistake CJCP as some
sort of vigilante group, but
its members follow ex-
tremely strict rules of opera-
tion.
CJCP members are not
allowed to make any physi-
cal contact with suspects,
and are not allowed to inter-
vene directly to stop a per-
son committing a criminal
act. Their main function is
to provide information to
law enforcement officials,
such as descriptions of sus-
pects and their vehicles.
Members are allowed to
be armed while on patrol,
but under strong, specific
conditions, and for the sake
of self-defense.
After making his
rounds, Rodgers meets up
again with the other patrol
members. It’s a few minutes
until 2 o’clock, which
means that the bars will be
closing soon.
This hour of the night
usually tends to be pretty
busy for CJCP. But things
are remarkably calm this
time, perhaps because
there’s a sheriff’s deputy
parked almost directly
across from one bar.
The Evergreen Federal
Bank sign reads that it’s 20
degrees outside. Rodgers
exits his vehicle and visits
with CJCP member Victor
Aries as bar patrons file out
onto the street. They both
keep a close eye on the
situation, then get back into
their cars to continue patrol.
Aries said that he de-
cided to join the patrol last
spring when his car was
broken into and ransacked.
“That’s what prompted
me to help reduce crime
here,” Aries said.
He also was disturbed
after constantly seeing
groups of young children
out and about at all hours of
the night.
“If it’s 3 o’clock in the
morning, they should be
home in bed,” Aries said.
Aries said that the patrol
is more difficult during the
week, due to its members’
career and family obliga-
tions. CJCP currently con-
sists of five members, but is
actively seeking more vol-
Victor Aries (left) and Mark Rodgers on duty for the Cave Junction Citizens Patrol.
(Photo by Michelle Binker/‘Illinois Valley News’)
unteers. Aries said he ex-
pects the patrols to become
more frequent during the
next few months.
“During the summer,
we need it all during the
week,” Aries said.
He spends the next hour
circling residential areas, but
doesn’t come across any-
thing suspicious. And by the
time 3 a.m. rolls around,
he’s off to regroup with the
other patrol members.
All indications are that
it’s been an uneventful eve-
ning, but that’s exactly what
CJCP is striving for. Having
done their duty for the eve-
ning, CJCP members retire
to the Junction Inn for cof-
fee and some food.
Aries said that the
streets of Cave Junction ap-
pear to be less rowdy these
days. He’s unsure whether
or not it’s strictly because of
the weather or some other
external factor, but one thing
is certain: He and the other
patrol members are deter-
mined to keep it that way.
“It seems to be settling
down,” Aries said. “I think
we’ve been making an im-
pact, too.”
Admitting guilt starts path to recovery
Addiction to drugs, alcohol can be overcome with specialized treatment
By GARY W. SMITH
One of the final barriers
to the harness and trap of
addiction is “Guilt.”
An addict is filled with
guilt. He feels guilty be-
cause he has lost his integ-
rity; he has become a dis-
honest person and conse-
quently loses his self-
esteem.
For any rehabilitation
method to be successful an
addict has got to face his or
her transgressions. They
must be able to clean up the
wreckage in their life that is
there because of their addic-
tion and the dishonest deeds
that are part of this life style.
A person who becomes
addicted to drugs or alcohol
doesn’t wake up one day and
say, “Gee, I think I’ll start
using drugs until I destroy
my family, my relationships
and my life in general.”
Addiction starts with a
problem; drugs or alcohol
are chosen as a solution to
relieve the discomfort one is
experiencing by not being
able to solve the problem.
Then the physical and men-
tal complications occur, all
adding up to the person’s
quality of life in a state of
decline.
Before the life cycle of
addiction starts, addicts start
as basically good people
with some sense of right and
wrong, and with no inten-
tion or desire to hurt oth-
ers. As the cycle of addic-
tion progresses, and the
cravings and other mechan-
ics of addiction begin to
dissolve self-control, they
begin to get into situations
where they are doing and
saying things they know
deep down aren’t true or
right, all to cover up or hide
their drug use.
If the pattern of abuse
continues they eventually
become trapped in a vicious
cycle of using drugs, hiding
the fact, lying about using --
and even stealing to support
more drug use. At each turn,
the addict is committing
more dishonest acts and
with each act is creating
more damage in their life
and relationships, all of
which has been committed
to memory.
When the addict com-
mits a harmful act or dis-
honest deed, they develop a
memory of that deed and all
the surrounding circum-
stances at the moment the
deed was done. Contained
in each memory is who was
involved, the time and place
the deed occurred and what
the end result of the dishon-
est deed was.
The addict knows these
negative actions are wrong.
And because the person
himself -- not the addicted
personality -- is good, they
will feel bad or guilty after
the dishonest act was com-
mitted. These memories of
guilt accumulate, and can be
triggered in the present or
future when they see the
people and places that were
involved when the trans-
gressions occurred, and they
feel bad about it.
In time these transgres-
sions are committed more
and more often, and the peo-
ple in the addict’s life where
these transgressions have
occurred become “triggers”
that remind the person of the
dishonest act or deed. The
people, family members,
loved ones and friends ap-
pearance to the addict trig-
gers the guilt.
Family or friends don’t
necessarily have to say a
word to the addict -- just the
sight of them can trigger the
guilt. Guilt is an unpleasant
feeling and so can prompt
the addict to use more drugs
to temporarily relieve them-
selves from this unwanted
condition.
Addicts also will begin
to withdraw more and more
from friends and family as
the transgressions increase
in number. They will even-
tually pull away from the
family, seclude themselves,
and/or become antagonistic
toward those they love.
Remember, the basic
personality of an addict is
good. The reason they end
up withdrawing from those
they love is because they
know they are doing the
wrong thing, and the act of
withdrawing from those
places and people that the
addict has harmed, is their
attempt to restrain them-
selves from committing
further transgressions to
those places and people they
care about.
(Gary W. Smith has
more than 30 years experi-
ence in the chemical de-
pendency treatment field.
He is executive director of
Narconon Arrowhead Drug
and Alcohol Rehabilitation
and Education Center.)
Williams man reports his beating, kidnapping
A Williams man told
sheriff’s officers that he was
held at gunpoint while he was
beaten with an ax handle after
being accused of stealing
medical marijuana.
Josephine County Sher-
iff’s Office added that four
suspects face charges of kid-
nap, assault and burglary.
Based on information
from the victim, identified as
Christopher S. Murray, 36,
four men known to him
forced their way into his
home.
It happened around mid-
night Thursday, Jan. 4, ac-
cording to information re-
ceived Monday, Jan. 15.
Murray said that after
being beaten, the men forced
him into a vehicle and drove
him to two undisclosed loca-
tions in the city of Grants
Pass. One suspect fled his
home in Williams when de-
tectives went there.
Information about the
case can be given via the
JCSO confidential tip line at
474-5160; or phone 474-
5153, Ext. 3523.
IN OBSERVANCE of Mar-
tin Luther King Jr. Day,
and in continuing protest
of the war in Iraq, approxi-
mately a dozen somber
persons stood in front of
the Josephine County
Bldg. in Downtown Cave
Junction Monday, Jan. 15.
(Photo by Scott Jorgen-
sen/‘Illinois Valley News’)
Gunman robs
motel clerk,
police say
A tall, gun-wielding
man robbed a Grants Pass
motel desk clerk Wednes-
day night, Jan. 10, and made
off with an undisclosed
amount of cash, said Grants
Pass Dept. of Public Safety
(GPDPS).
The 37-year-old desk
clerk who reported the rob-
bery, at Shilo Inn on N.W.
Sixth Street at 9:40 p.m.,
said that the gunman was
wearing a black, hooded
sweatshirt and fled the scene
on foot. She was not injured
in the incident
Officers searched the
area with the aid of K-9 offi-
cer “Denny,” but could not
locate the suspect.
Anyone with informa-
tion about this case is asked
to phone 474-6370.
First office at I.V. Medical Center
Monday - Friday by appointment
Pain - Stress - Injuries
Deep massage
CranioSacral Therapy
Senior Discounts
Gift Certificates
MANSFIELD R. CLEARY
Attorney at Law
General Practice in
Illinois Valley
since 1980
Practice includes but not limited to:
Bankruptcy - Eliminate
financial problems
Living trusts - Avoid probate
Estate planning - Wills,
power of attorney
Domestic relations
Auto accident - Personal Injury
Criminal - DUII
Real Estate contracts - Foreclosure
592-2195
Drive safely
200 W. Lister