GRANTS PASS — Another group has formed to provide armed citizen patrols in the rural outreaches of Josephine County, where voters have consistently refused to raise their taxes to pay for sheriff's patrols as federal timber revenues have dried up.

More

that the group patrolling the rural area east of Cave Junction brings to three the number of armed citizen groups filling the law enforcement gap in the county, where only two deputies are on the road in an area bigger than Rhode Island.

Sue Williams, a block leader in the new group, says they want to provide a presence to deter crime. She says patrols are armed for self-protection, but they are non-confrontational.

-- The Associated Press