Reported by: Alicia Coates
Published: 5/23 10:46am
Updated: 5/23 10:55am
With more than 26 years in law enforcement under her belt, Sheriff Margaret Mims has done it all.
She is the first female sheriff in Fresno County history and was also the first female police officer in the City of Kerman.
27-years-ago Margaret Mims became a deputy sheriff for Fresno County and worked her way up to sheriff, in charge of 11,000 employees.
But in the last two years, due to historic budget cuts, Mims had to lay off 65 staff members, most of which were correctional officers.
As a result, she's also had to close 3 floors of the county jail, leading to the early release of thousands of inmates, keeping only the most serious offenders behind bars.
Sheriff Mims said, "I keep murders, rapist, robbers, carjackers, and home invasion robbers."
Some of those criminals released early are rural ag thieves, stealing metal to sell to scrap yards and many re-offend as soon as they are released. "Many times it's a crime of meth users, where they get the quick cash to use for their meth habit," said Mims.
Sheriff Mims accepted CBS47’s "Not-so-Undercover Boss" challenge, to step out of her office and into the field, to see first hand what the Ag Crime Task Force does to save Fresno County money.
At one of the 9 metal yards in the county, a sting operation done by the Ag Team was successful. "Staking out the metal yard right now, and sure enough they stopped a car ended up being stolen, couple people in it that are wanted," said Mims.
Two people were arrested for being in possession of a stolen vehicle and trying to sell the metal illegally for cash.
On a daily basis, metal yards get approached by people trying to illegally sell metal.
Rick White with Bruno’s Iron and Metal said, I’ve seen everything, I gotta tell you, they steal everything from man hole covers, scaffolding at construction sites, which is steel, stakes for concrete that’s steal, all the way up to your copper wire off light poles. They down poles, the light poles…"
Stealing metal is a powerful blow to our local economy. "Since January, we've had almost half a million dollars worth of metal just in our ag crimes," said Mims.
Many of the ag thefts means farmers are getting ripped off and when that happens, they are stripped of tools they need to do their job. "The crop damage from irrigation valves and pump wire being stolen, it's just got to stop," said Rick White.
Since the sheriff implemented this ag crime task force 10 years ago, the amount of metal stolen from farmers has decreased. "Our amount of theft being reported is down," said Mims.
The ag crime team says they appreciate the sheriff taking the time out of her busy schedule to see first hand what they deal with on a daily basis.
Ag unit detective, Jennifer Evans said, “She likes to come out and check on what going on so that's a good thing."
The sheriffs department will work with metal yards and post pictures of stolen property, so a red flag goes up when someone tries to sell it.
Sheriff Mims agrees with White that it's beneficial for the two to work closely and have a good relationship with each other. "She does a great job and I have the utmost respect for her," said White.
It's this kind of team work that helps protect Fresno County residents and businesses from those who repeatedly rip them off.
Sheriff Mims said, "I’m proud of the Ag Task Force and the work they do. I’m proud of their relationships not only with the metal yard but with the business people so we put the word out.”
