STARS ALIGN TO BATTLE CRIME

Bad Guys Think Twice If Senior Volunteers Make an Appearance

They recover hundreds of stolen vehicles, make daily house
inspections for vacationing homeowners and transport stolen property
into evidence.

All at no cost to taxpayers. And that's just for starters.

The San Joaquin County Sheriff's Team of Active Retired Seniors --
about 350 members and growing -- can be summoned in any emergency,
from a missing persons search to alerting potential flood victims.

In situations such as these, the STARS can mobilize 100 people in an
hour, said John Mostowski.

Volunteers such as Mostowski also are trained to spot methamphetamine
laboratories and dump sites and to identify possible elder and child abuse.

They can step in, under the direction of an officer, to direct
traffic. They staff the reception desk at the sheriff's office, and
they staff regional service centers where people voice problems or complaints.

'Eyes, Ears' Of Law Enforcement

Sheriff's offices throughout the Northern San Joaquin Valley,
including those in Stanislaus, Merced, Calaveras and Tuolumne
counties, have similar volunteer programs. In Tuolumne, volunteers
staff satellite offices in Jamestown, Groveland and other outlying communities.

"They're a great asset to our department," said deputy Brian Miller
of the Merced County Sheriff's Department. "They do everything you
can imagine."

The volunteers raise money to keep programs going. In San Joaquin,
the fleet of 25 patrol vehicles was purchased through donations.

Besides a retired school administrator, San Joaquin County STARS
boasts a retired general and lieutenant colonel, retired postal
workers, personnel assistants, business owners and managers.

They volunteer from once or twice a month to nearly every day.

"We're the eyes, the ears" of law enforcement, Mostowski, a senior
training captain, said.

On patrol, they drive Ford Ranger pickups marked with the STARS logo.
They don't carry weapons, but they are armed with radios and cell
phones so they can summon authorities.

"In many instances, just our presence is a de-terrent," Mostow-ski said.

Drug dealers have left schools after seeing STARS volunteers drive
by. And calls to police about daytime burglaries have dropped thanks
to patrolling STARS volunteers, he said.

Joyce Mahin, a volunteer senior captain from Stockton, said she and
her STARS partner believe they broke up what would have been a
"rumble" in Lathrop about six months ago.

They came upon cars parked in the middle of a street, and "bunches of
kids" on all sides who appeared to be looking to fight, Mahin said.

Mahin said her first thought was "Shall we put it in reverse?"

Volunteers are never asked to place themselves in a dangerous
situation. Their motto is observe, back off, report.

Instead, she and her partner continued driving. Before deciding
whether to call it in, she said, they peeked around the corner to see
what was going on. To her relief, the people had dispersed.

"We felt we had really earned our badges," she said.

Viola Doud, 77, patrols two nights a week in more than a dozen mobile
home parks.

"I wanted to do something for the community," she said. "It gets me
out of four walls."

She started patrolling at night in response to a large number of
calls to police reporting break-ins and other crimes in mobile home
parks such as the one in which she lives.

"And the calls have drastically been reduced" as a result of
volunteers such as Doud, Mostowski said.

In July, the San Joaquin STARS reached a 1 millionvolunteer-hours
milestone since the program began in August 1991, said Doud, who
keeps track of records for the program.

People such as Tim O'Bryan, 74, ofValley Springs, help boost the
group's total hours. Sometimes he volunteers five days a week in San
Joaquin County.

"It's a great bunch of people towork for and with," O'Bryan said. He
is a former naval architect who oversees volunteers onpatrol as watch
commander. "The main thing is (that) it's fun."

By the end of the day Friday, 17new recruits had made it halfway
through 40 hours of training at the San Joaquin County Sheriff's
Department. Theymaneuveredpickups through obstacle courses, backing
up through orange cones, and parallel parked.

The department hosts a training program for recruits in March and
September. Volunteers must be at least 50 years old.

In San Joaquin County, for information about joining the STARS,
contact Weldon Burson at 468-4469 orwburson@sjgov.org. In Stanislaus
County, call 558-8930. To volunteer with the Modesto Police
Department, call 572-9513 or 572-9519. In Turlock, call 668-5550.