Pension Posse

Retirees cut crime in Arizona

At 59, Patrolman Ed Johnson is considered one of the kids on the beat. His sidekick, Orville Sorenson, is 73. Roy Rogers and Gabby Hayes they are not, but they are close. Along with 275 other volunteers, they make up the Sun City posse, a real, live law-enforcement group that combats the elements of crime in its little piece of the new West—a suburban retirement community outside Phoenix. Decked out in regulation brown-and-beige uniforms and Stetson hats, and sometimes packing pistols, the posse has cut petty theft by 32% since it was started in 1971. Insurance companies,...

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