Rural Shasta County communities want more law enforcement

Not enough protection by law enforcement is something several rural communities in Shasta County are faced with and the residents are expressing their concerns and taking matters into their own hands.

Residents said there is a general understanding that no matter who the sheriff is, it's all about funding, which is in the states hands.

"We have to take responsibility for our protection," said Thomas Twist, a longtime resident of Shingletown.

Look out for your neighbors, that's the general consensus in Shingletown.

"Unfortunately, we don't have a resident deputy up here, sometimes if you need a deputy it could take hours," said Alan Wheelus, a Shingletown resident.

Residents in Shingletown said the Shasta County Sheriff's substation has been closed for some time but according to Shasta County Undersheriff Eric Magrini, they are are currently looking for a resident deputy.

Twist said that even though he has seen a California Highway Patrol officer in the area lately, he has a lot of ground to cover and can't do it alone. So, residents help with active volunteer patrols, neighborhood watch groups, and Twist said people do have concealed carry weapon permits.

According to the Sheriff's Office, there are more than 9,000 people with CCW permits in the county.

"I do think that's a positive because of the response time, it's a necessity, it's a geographic reality," added Twist.

As for a solution, Twist believes the only way to achieve any level of protection is if the voters are willing to vote in a special assessment district to pay for deputies.

"Then we can have them, they can't be taken away from the state, by the county for other purposes. They would belong to us, same as the deputies that patrol Shasta Lake," said Twist.

From the rural community of Shingletown in southern Shasta County we traveled up north to Burney to find people echoing the same issues.

"We're really hurting, we're really affected by it and we need help," said Jessica Sharp.

"We need some people here is what we need, we need more, a lot more," added Patty Shelton, owner of Patty's Salon.

While they say they do see deputies traveling through, everyone there knows there are certain times of the day when they are left without protection.

"We do have a period of time, 3 a.m. to 7 a.m. where we have no officers on duty and unfortunately the criminals know that, they bank on that, that's their working hours," said Sharp.

Barbara Ramsey, a local business owner, added that in that time frame, since there is no protection, people take matters into their own hands.

"Since we have no protection, it's just no law, you go out and shoot them. It's getting that bad, people are up in arms wanting to get something done," said Ramsey.

And that's when they say crimes are being committed.

"A lot of houses being broken into, a lot of cars being broken into. The crime rate here is terrible," said Shelton.

"I know my two grandboys won't go out at night, they won't go out at all at night, they are afraid to," added Francine Haldi, a Burney resident.

Magrini said they are aware that deputies are not on patrol during that time, but there are deputies that live in the area that are on-call during those times.

Currently, there are 10 deputies that patrol Burney, but those deputies also travel up to Johnson Park, Fall River Mills, and McArthur. Magrini added that's a large area to cover and they are currently down three deputies in that area.

In an effort to help with the crime, Sharp started a Facebook group called Burney and Intermountain Crime Watch.

"We're doing it because we don't have the assistance we need, otherwise, we got to look out for each other," said Sharp.

On May 15, the community of Lakehead held a public sheriff's forum where candidates John Greene and incumbent Tom Bosenko heard the concerns of many.

"How are you going to protect me, and the community, not only here in Lakehead, but also in Shingletown and any other outlier in the whole county," said a Lakehead resident.

According to Magrini the Sheriff's Office said they are looking for a resident deputy for the Lakehead area.

Magrini said there are 90 allocated positions at the Sheriff's Office. There are 17 positions that are frozen, meaning they aren't funded and six positions that are funded, but have not yet been filled.