Bob Cuddy: Rural lawmen fight crime on the range

Frank and Jesse James aren’t galloping over the Carrisa Plains as they did in days of yore. But their venal spiritual descendants still skulk around the county’s rural areas, and they’re still rustling.

Now, though, the outlaws — while still pilfering cattle—are more interested in rustling agricultural products, farm equipment and construction materials.

True, it’s not as glamorous as snatching steers. But it’s plenty lucrative.

So are the methamphetamine labs that pop up like jimson weed in the county’s outlands, and there’s money to be had in another common county crime, cockfighting.

With all this illegal activity out in the boondocks, the county needs some latter-day Wyatt Earps to mosey out and ferret out the bad guys. It has them, in the San Luis Obispo Rural Crime Task Force.

The move to rural deputies is critical, according to Sgt. Rex Reece. Agriculture is the No. 2 industry in the county after tourism, according to the Sheriff’s Department, and most of it flourishes outside city limits. It is a $621.5 million business, according to the county’s 2007 crop report.

These rural crime deputies have to be ready to handle a panoply of offenses, including disputes between neighbors, animal neglect, purloining of hay and drug dealing.

Construction material theft is one of the most serious problems these days, said Deputy Ed Bryant, a Paso Robles native. If there’s a house under construction and nobody around to watch it,

thieves will take wiring and just about anything else they can sell. There’s a booming market in stolen construction materials, he said.

Metal, copper, and irrigation systems all are regularly stolen because of the high prices the materials bring, said Brandy Swain, a Sheriff’s Department crime prevention specialist. Not only is the rancher out the money those materials cost, but his crops can suffer because of the loss of irrigation pipes, Swain said.

“They’ll take the wire right off the truck,” Reece added.

Some of the problems involve disputes between neighbors, usually when a rancher checks out property lines that have been in the family for generations and haven’t been eyeballed in decades.

“It can get pretty heated,” Reece said. “There could be guns.”

Trespassing also irks ranchers.

“It’s their livelihood,” noted Deputy Darren Davidson.

“It’s a liability for the rancher,” added Deputy Pete Cramer. “Cattle could get out and be hit by a car. It becomes a frustration” for the rancher.

“Ranchers are pretty independent people,” Cramer said.

That independence bodes ill for trespassers, especially if mountain bikers and hikers ignore “No Trespassing” signs. Deputies have had to arrest trespassers for their own good, to protect them from riled-up ranchers.

Crop theft is also prevalent; the unit has stopped trucks scurrying away with 100- pound sacks of avocados.

The deputies also know that cockfighting goes on in the county. But as Cramer said, it’s underground and difficult to prove.

And, finally, cattle theft still does take place, except that the cattle are spirited away in four-wheel-drive vehicles now. Rustlers get bold, Cramer said, because ranches are sometimes thousands of acres. Sometimes, Bryant added, outlaws grab the calves before they’re branded. Other times they will slaughter cattle illegally.

There is no doubt the county needs a rural crime task force. But these deputies are aware that they can’t do it on their own. They’ve joined with Monterey and other counties for regional approaches to rural crime fighting.

Most of all, they are trying to enlist the sometimes standoffish and independent ranchers who like to handle their own problems their own way.

To that end, there has been “a lot of communication between the agricultural community and the sheriff,” Bryant said.

That includes surveys and one-on-one chats, bringing in the Farm Bureau and Cattle-men’s Association, and holding community meetings.

“Ranchers are not used to calling us,” Cramer said. “The most important thing is to make the call.”

One program under way to help ranchers is called the “owner-applied number,” under which ranchers and farmers can brand farm equipment, such as tractors. It can be tracked that way.

“We’ve done several ranches,” Cramer said.

It is clear these rural crime fighters consider working with the ranching community at or near the top of their list. That relationship “makes the program special,” Reece said.