We are improving public safety in Mojave by organizing a volunteer police unit, and working with local residents and businesses to install security cameras and lighting.

Specific tasks include:

Standing up a volunteer police squad. Mojave suffers from the highest crime rate in Kern County. Safety is the number-one most cited problem for residents and businesses in the community. The Mojave Foundation has championed a program within the Kern County Sheriff’s Office (KCSO) called Citizen Service Unit (CSU), which trains citizen volunteers to conduct non-hazardous law enforcement activities. This investment made by the community in the KCSO will strengthen the partnership between law enforcement and the community, increase the number of deputies on the street, and give the community unparalleled access to the KCSO.

Solar-powered streetlights. The Kern County Sheriff’s Office has been asked to accept budget cuts each year for the past five years. The substation in Mojave has responsibility over an area half the size of Connecticut, but there are 63% fewer deputies today than in 2013. More deputies are desperately needed, but in a world of finite resources, the Mojave Foundation is determined to augment that security with clean, affordable solar powered streetlights. In 2018 the Foundation, in partnership with residents, local businesses and Kern County, installed 50 streetlights in downtown Mojave. This is a good start, but more lighting is needed to flip expectations of investors and residents.

Installing security cameras. Most crimes in Mojave are committed in the dark. The Mojave Foundation will partner with government officials and utility providers to better illuminate our downtown area. We will also work with local businesses and home-owners to install a grass-roots network of inexpensive personal lighting systems throughout targeted neighborhoods. We will also work with local businesses and property owners to develop an inexpensive outdoor closed-circuit surveillance system, available to all residents and businesses in the area. For an example of a grass-roots lighting effort, which effectively reduced crime in a Washington DC neighborhood in 1970, click here. (www.Tedson.com)

What is your biggest security concern?

Burglaries, theft, drugs, gangs, graffiti, vandalism, vagrancy, drinking in public? Where is it happening, and who is responsible? Let us know what you see around town, and what bothers you the most. Most importantly, what should we do about it? You can respond anonymously if you want. One of the ways we get the Sheriff’s Department to respond to community priorities is by providing them with quantifiable data, and this is one of the best ways to collect information safely and anonymously. Please complete our short survey below.