Law enforcement key issue in dunes By ERIC GALVAN, Staff Writer
Tuesday, January 30, 2007 4:00 PM PST
YUMA As the Imperial Sand Dunes Recreation Area was discussed by Imperial and Yuma county boards of supervisors, it was Yuma Sheriff Ralph Ogden that summed up concerns best.
“We have to work together when it comes to the dunes,” Ogden said during a joint meeting in Yuma on Monday. “When criminals come to recreate, they don’t care where the borders are.”
The Imperial County Sheriff’s Office, working with the Bureau of Land Management, handles law enforcement issues at the sand dunes during dunes season in the fall and winter months.
Concerns were expressed and discussed regarding the Imperial County Sheriff’s Office splitting funds with BLM for law enforcement. The discussions prompted Sheriff Ray Loera to consider the idea of utilizing the Yuma Sheriff’s Office and focus more solely on law enforcement.
He said two of his primary concerns as newly sworn-in sheriff are handling law enforcement and permitting issues at the sand dunes.
“Permit sales is very labor intensive,” Loera said. “I feel a sheriff’s office is a law enforcement issue, not a business.”
Part of the Imperial County Sheriff’s Office’s duties during dunes season, along with serving as the primary law enforcement agency on hand, is selling dunes user permits.
“I think we’re stretching our resources too thin,” Imperial County Supervisor Joe Maruca said.
Already finding mutual areas in which to train and splitting costs, Ogden said, helping in the dunes could be a possibility.
However, interstate federal regulations may inhibit such a joint venture.
“If we could’ve done it, I think we would’ve done it a long time ago,” Maruca said.
Even though the dunes are on the California side, Yuma County supervisors chairwoman Casey Prochaska said it is an area that does affect Yuma.
“Yuma is the closest city to the dunes and during dunes season it’s a nonstop caravan through our city,” she said. “Though I don’t know what the regulations would be (for a joint venture), I think law enforcement needs to be there to enforce the law.”
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