County eyes big bucks for public safety programs

VISALIA — Area law enforcement officials are looking to tap into more than $1.5 million in state and federal grant money to further ongoing crime-fighting efforts here in Tulare County.

To do so, they need the blessing of the Board of Supervisors, in some cases by a four-fifths vote.

The District Attorney’s Office is seeking leave from the board on Tuesday to accept continued grant funding from a number of sources to finance targeted enforcement efforts, many aimed at preventing heinous crimes and, short of that, prosecuting the offenders to the fullest extent of the law.

Specifically, the District Attorney’s Office is asking permission to:

-- Accept continued grant funding from the Office of Emergency Services for the Vertical Block Grant Program in the amount of $444,972 for 2008-09.

The program enables the District Attorney’s Office to target egregious and violent criminals and crimes — and to take career criminals off the streets.

“The rapid emergence of street gangs has had tragic human and institutional impacts upon the community and Tulare County’s criminal justice system,” according to the staff report for the request. “The California Attorney General’s office reports that offenses involving violence, illegal drugs and sex occur in Tulare County with rates that are 25 percent to 50 percent higher than all the major urban areas in California.

“Contrary to national trends, our crime rate has not decreased but in several key areas, increased,” the report states. “Rapes and murders have gone up. Residential burglaries and robberies, target crimes of the Career Criminal Program, have also increased.”

-- Accept continued grant funding from the U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Assistance for the Agricultural Crime, Technology, Information, and Operations Network Project in the amount of $335,381, retroactive to Sept. 1, 2008 through Aug. 31, 2010.

The program focuses on the use of technology and training to make law enforcement agencies more effective in their approach to solving, preventing and prosecuting agricultural crimes. The concept for the program was spearheaded by Tulare County District Attorney Phil Cline in 1999 and is now a nationwide model program, according to the staff report for the request.
There are currently eight Central Valley counties and five Central Coast counties participating in the program.

-- Accept continued grant funding from the Office of Emergency Services for the Violence Against Women Vertical Prosecution Program in the amount of $105,000 with a county match of $35,000 for a total of $140,000, retroactive to July 1, 2008 through June 30, 2009.

-- Accept continued grant funding from the California Department of Insurance for the Life and Annuity Consumer Protection Program in the amount of $50,000 for the 2008-09 fiscal year, retroactive to July 1, 2008 through June 30, 2009.

The program targets those who are actively involved in life insurance and annuity fraud in Tulare County, with a deputy district attorney utilized in this specialty area.

-- Accept continued grant funding from the State of California, Department of Justice, Attorney General’s Privacy and Piracy Fund in the amount of $26,747 for Fiscal Year 2008-0909, retroactive to July 1, 2008 through June 30, 2009.

The program helps combat identity theft across multiple jurisdictions in the county.

The Sheriff’s Department, meanwhile, is seeking permission from the board to accept $575,100 in grant funding from the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services to operate the Tulare County Sexual Assault Felony Enforcement Program for the 2008-09 fiscal year.

The program got its start in the spring of 2007 with a grant from OES. The county’s SAFE team consists of the Sheriff’s Department, which serves as the lead agency, the Probation Department and the District Attorney’s Office.

Among its duties, the SAFE team ensures that sexual offenders comply with mandatory registration requirements, investigates offenders who do not comply with registration requirements and investigates cases of new sexual offenses.

Other action
The board will also:

-- Consider approving a mutual aid agreement between the Tulare County Fire Department and the Lindsay Fire Department to assist one another when fighting fires that, due to their size or complexity, are too much for one agency to handle on its own.

The agreement, nearly 16 months in the making, also establishes the cost to the City of Lindsay — $13,000 annually — for the county to handle emergency dispatch services for the city.

-- Consider reappointing Joaquin Parsons and Philip Larson to the Porterville Public Cemetery District for terms ending at noon, Jan. 2, 2012; and reappointing Darrell Taylor to the Porterville Public Cemetery for a term ending at noon, Jan. 3, 2010.

-- Conduct a public hearing at the request of Destiny Marquez of Porterville, who is appealing $4,050 in fees and fines, plus interest, imposed by the Resource Management Agency for the manner in which several businesses are being operated at the Pearson Ranch site, 1018 Teapot Dome Ave.

-- Hear a presentation by Superior Court Judge Glade Roper opposing Proposition 5 on the Nov. 4 ballot. Supervisors are being asked to approve a letter of opposition to Proposition 5.

-- Present a proclamation commemorating the centennial of the founding of Allensworth to Victor Carter, statewide president of the Friends of Allensworth, and to Visalia author and historian Alice Royal, descendant of a pioneer Allensworth family.

The meeting begins at 9 a.m. in the Board of Supervisors Chambers, Administration Building, 2800 W. Burrel Ave., Visalia.

-- Contact Glen Faison at 784-5000, Ext. 1040, or gfaison@portervillerecorder.com.