Sheriff Margaret Mims visits Dinuba neighborhood

By Linda Renn Dinuba Sentinel staff

editor@thedinubasentinel.com

Published: Thursday, February 3, 2011

Donna Mireles, a member of the Dinuba Police Advisory Commission, invited friends and neighbors to her home Monday night to hear an informal conversation with Fresno County Sheriff Margaret Mims.

A handful of people, one who had her car stolen and another who has seen two home-invasion robberies of her home in 30 years, listened to a discussion about fighting crime through community involvement.

Mims said that “Neighborhood Watch” groups are tried and true and that citizen patrols can be the eyes and ears of law enforcement.

Fresno County Sheriff Margaret Mims answers questions in the living room of Donna Mireles' Dinuba home Monday night. (Photo by Linda Renn | The Sentinel)

“What you're doing right now is a Neighborhood Watch meeting – intuitively,” said Mims as she looked around the living room of Mireles' home. “It can be organized block by block.”

Mireles, who earlier told the Sentinel she had invited Mims to her home because she admires her, told Mims, “Sometimes I feel that we're not important enough … police don't get there in time.”

Mireles said, “What I wish is that we would get more people ... to come to us as a commission.”

Carol Knoy, a former member of the Police Advisory Commission, said that people are sometimes intimidated to come before the commission to air their complaints. She also said that the Dinuba Police Department has some good officers.

Scott Harness, a Dinuba city council member and a former member of the Police Advisory Commission, said that the city has a lot of ordinances in place for public safety.

For instance, he said solicitors selling satellite television or hoping to clean your carpet are prohibited from going door-to-door. Also, vendors and panhandlers are not allowed to work on the streets.

Harness said people should call the police when they see these things happen. If three hours pass and a vendor is still working the streets, then come to the commission to talk about it, he said.

Mims encouraged the group to get more involved with law enforcement.

“You need to work in cooperation with your chief and city council,” she said. “Go to your chief and say you want to start a citizen patrol. That's what your law enforcement leader likes to hear is, “How can we help you?'"

A check with the Dinuba Police Department on Tuesday showed that the city of Dinuba already has a citizens patrol and a Neighborhood Watch program in place.

Police Chief James Olvera, who was unaware that Mireles had hosted Mims at a meeting, said there are 13 citizens in the current volunteer police academy.

When they finish with the academy, these people will join the other trained volunteers who help officers in many ways including citizens patrol, assisting with traffic and ferrying police paperwork to the Tulare County District Attorney's Office in Visalia or Tulare.

There are other ways that citizens can get involved with the police department, said Olvera, including the Explorer program and ride-alongs.

Anyone interested in starting a Neighborhood Watch on their block can call the police department at 591-5914.