ORANGE : Joint City-County Units Patrol El Modena

City and county officials Monday hailed a new cooperative venture between police agencies to patrol the unincorporated El Modena area.

The project, Consolidated Police Patrols, has two officers each from the Sheriff’s Department and the Orange Police Department sharing cars for Friday and Saturday night patrols in El Modena. The program began about two weeks ago.

Orange Mayor Joanne Coontz, who developed the idea with County Supervisor William G. Steiner, said that city residents have long complained about incidents in El Modena spilling over into the city’s east side. “But sometimes it is in the county jurisdiction,” she said at a news conference Monday.

Orange Police Chief John R. Robertson said the two agencies already had a mutual aid agreement, but some residents had questioned the use of city resources for county territory.

“Jurisdiction was not a problem per se,” Robertson said. “What becomes a problem is that sometimes our priorities are different.”

Officers working the new patrols said that high visibility is their first priority.

“People are surprised when they see the Orange police working with the Sheriff’s Department,” Orange Officer Brian Marcotte said. “It’s a good surprise.”