A message from Detective Ray Dominguez:

Greetings Farm Watch readers, recent reports indicate that avocado and copper wire thefts continue to be a problem. A substantial theft of avocados was reported from a farm in Santa Paula, luckily an observant security officer found the fruit piled under trees and was able to recover the fruit, thus thwarting the crooks plan to return for it at a later time.

A copper wire theft was reported in the Ventura area, but no suspects have been identified in this case. Unfortunately, the victim’s pumping equipment was targeted at a time when the farm was not being actively worked. Just this past week, two theft reports came in from the Camarillo/Oxnard Plains area, where fungicides and a forklift were reported stolen. There are no suspects identified in either case.

Remember, if you discover a theft has occurred, please contact the Sheriff’s Office immediately at 654-9511 or 911 in an emergency, and keep people and animals out of the area to avoid contaminating the crime scene. Please do not allow anyone to touch or move anything in the area as they may be contaminating or destroying otherwise viable evidence.

On another note, in early June I along with numerous representatives from various county, municipal and state public safety and regulatory agencies attended a “Pre-fire Season” meeting hosted by the Ventura County Fire Department. As many of you know, we had already experienced several fires in the county by the time the meeting was held, and it appears the fire season seems to start earlier each year.

The meeting was well attended, as they packed the room. The meeting was an open forum allowing attendees to comment and share ideas. The focus of the meeting was on the “Springs” fire and a debrief of the incident to discuss what went right, and how we could improve in the area(s) where deficiencies were identified. Overall, things went well based on the discussion and analysis of the incident.

However, I would like to share a couple of things with you that came out of the meeting. I believe they are of particular interest and benefit to those of you involved in the local agriculture industry. They included the discussion about the “Agricultural Pass Program” and the “Ready, Set, Go!” program covering wildfire preparedness for farmers, ranchers and growers. If you haven’t done so already, I highly encourage you to visit the Ventura County Fire Department website at fire.countyofventura.org and read the information related to these two programs. Once you access the website, click on the “Wildfire Action Plan” in the Quick Links section found in the lower right corner of the home page.

The Agricultural Passes, I mentioned above are issued through the Central Ventura County Firesafe Council and I’m told they can be requested by agricultural and nursery employers by using one or more of the following options:

1) At the Farm Bureau office located at 5156 McGrath St., Suite 102 in Ventura on the 4th Wednesday of the month from 8:30-Noon.

2) At the Resource Conservation District Office located at 3380 Somis Rd. in Somis on the 2nd Wednesday of the month between 8:30-Noon (Starting July 10).

3) Online, by going to www.cvcfiresafe.org to download the request form and completing it. Return via email with a photograph in .jpg format to info@cvcfiresafe.org and they will mail the cards to the employer within one week of receipt of the completed request and photo.

4) Schedule an onsite session at your workplace by emailing info@cvcfiresafe.org for instant issue of the cards.

Another issue that came up during the meeting was that of safety concerns with regard to hazardous materials being stored on agricultural sites where the fire spread. I was asked to encourage those of you in the industry to properly post your storage facilities and register your materials with agencies such as the Ventura County Agricultural Commissioner’s Office, Ventura County Environmental Health Department, and with the California Department of Pesticide Regulation. This important step helps ensure that you, your employees, neighbors, and the public safety personnel working the fire remain safe. Many thanks to those of you who have already taken the time to do so, as it is greatly appreciated.

Finally, the issue of animal rescue and evacuations of equine/livestock was discussed. Our friends at the Ventura County Animal Services have asked for your assistance, and are working on compiling a contact list. If you’re interested in sharing this information with them, please contact Bryan Bray by email at bryan.bray@ventura.org.

The following advice is always wise if you suspect illegal activity on your property:

· Call the Sheriff’s Office immediately at 911.

· Be a good witness

· Note suspect descriptions such as age, height, weight, facial hair, clothing, and shoe type.

· If a vehicle is involved, obtain a license plate number and note vehicle color, body damage, bumper stickers, camper shell, after market tires and wheels, etc.

· Provide the dispatcher with information about the time and last known direction of travel.

If you are not sure of how to address a problem or would like additional crime prevention tips please contact your local Sheriff’s Office substation or me directly at (805) 384-4726 or by email at ray.dominguez@ventura.org.

Contacts:

Camarillo Detective Robert Arthur, robert.arthur@ventura.org

Fillmore Detective John Fox john.fox@ventura.org

Ventura Detective Dennis Smith dennis.smith@ventura.org

Agricultural Crimes Detective, Ray Dominguez ray.dominguez@ventura.org

As always, I would like to thank Sheriff’s Crime Analyst Karen Brown for this issue’s great crime and alert update.

Be alert and stay safe!

Ray

Geoff Dean - Sheriff

John Crombach and Gary Pentis - Assistant Sheriffs