Michael A. Turner - Captain, KRV Citizen Service Unit

The Citizen Service Unit is made up of civilian volunteers over the age of 21. We go through a background check and attend a 32-hour academy. After the academy, we go through a field training session and then we are approved to work with other members of the unit. This series of articles is intended to inform the public as to what we are and what we do for the community and for the Sheriff’s Department. Our main reason for being out there is that we are the eyes and the ears of the Sheriff’s Department. We do not take any kind of law enforcement action on things that we might see; we use our radios to notify our control center or any thing we see that might be suspicious or wrong. We are not law enforcement personnel. On patrol we check homes and businesses for people who are on vacation, in the hospital and other reason. We are always on the lookout for things that do not look like right, like people who shouldn’t be there, buildings and homes that don’t look right. We look for windows that are broken and doors that might be open that would indicate that something is wrong. We also do many things in the valley that allow the Deputies of the Kern River Valley to be able to spend more time in the alley to take care of calls in the valley that they would not be able to do. We transport vehicles for the Deputies that need maintenance on them and we transport a lot of paper work and other items that keep the deputies free and able to protect the valley better. We also transport children to Jamison Center for the Deputies.

We also assist the Deputies and other Law Enforcement in the valley with traffic control in the case of fires or accidents. We also do traffic control for parades and other special events that take place. We assist the community in the many events that they hold all around the valley and we give out a lot of information as to what the Sheriff’s Department has to offer for the valley. We also have a Neighborhood Watch program that assists communities in the valley to help watch and make their neighborhoods more secure.¬Ý¬Ý For more information contact us at the Sheriff’s Sub Station Lake Isabella, phone 549-2100.