Police Chief of Oxnard Will Retire : Law enforcement: Robert Owens has fought crime with programs that have received national recognition.

Oxnard Police Chief Robert Owens, who gained a reputation among his colleagues as an innovator and for being “more open-minded than the stereotypical cop,” announced Tuesday he will retire June 15.

In 25 years as police chief of the city with the highest crime rate in the county, Owens has fought gang violence and street crime with programs that earned him national recognition.

“He’s done a marvelous job addressing the problems of the various ethnic groups that make up our city, reaching out, building up a rapport and showing leadership,” Oxnard Mayor Nao Takasugi said. “Robert Owens is a true professional and we’ll miss him.”

Owens started the Serious Habitual Offender program with a federal grant in 1979 to keep track of criminals both in and outside the corrections system. It has become a blueprint for similar programs nationwide.

Criminals in the program receive job training, counseling, job referrals and, if need be, clothes for job interviews, said Oxnard Police Department crime analyst Maggie O’Neill.

Last year, the Oxnard Police Department received a federal grant from the Justice Department to create a similar program for gang members.

“Bob brought a lot of innovative programs to the county and keeps the rest of us chiefs on our toes,” said Ventura Police Chief Richard Thomas. “He’s a great chief, and we are going to miss him desperately.”

Owens was named Oxnard’s police chief in 1970, after three years as chief in San Fernando and 18 years as an officer in the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

“When I first came here, our police officers were nicknamed cowboys,” he said Wednesday. “It was a clean department, but very old-fashioned. The officers were very upfront, even confrontational.”

It was a time of ethnic strife nationwide, and Oxnard was no exception. In 1971, Latinos rioted in La Colonia and three houses were burned down. Months later, organizers of a demonstration came to Owens with an unusual request.

“They asked me to keep police officers out of sight of the demonstrators, and I said yes,” Owens said. “At the department, people thought I’d gone crazy, but it worked. We had videotape surveillance on the demonstrators and kept the officers nearby. One thousand demonstrators came and went, and nothing happened.”

By 1980, Owens was facing new challenges. Homicides in the city reached an all-time high of 25 in 1979, and street violence was increasing. Much of it was in blighted south Oxnard.

“We started doing community policing, the same thing the Christopher Commission has recommended to the LAPD,” Owens said. Bringing together city agencies and community groups, police spearheaded urban renewal programs. Streets were paved, weeds were removed, graffiti erased and police foot patrols increased. Anglo street names were changed to Latino names.

Owens keeps in his office a street sign of old Aleric Street, once a dingy refuge for drug addicts and prostitutes. Now it is called Cuesta del Mar Drive, or Slope to the Sea, and in the chief’s words, “people have reclaimed their neighborhood.”

Throughout Owens’ tenure, community relations have remained a priority. “A lot of people complain about the police, but Chief Owens always does what I tell him,” said Ester Lara, president of the Colonia Village Tenants’ Assn. “Everything I’ve asked of him, he has delivered.”

By the late 1980s, the rise of street gangs brought drive-by shootings, stabbings and graffiti to the county. Owens introduced the first computer program to record gang members’ profiles and tattoos.

“He’s a great guy and a terrific innovator, never afraid to break from the mold,” said Ventura County Dist. Atty. Michael D. Bradbury. “He’s the Renaissance man of law enforcement.”

Owens also is known for being unusually open with the public and with his employees.

“He’s very approachable and more open-minded than your stereotypical cop,” said Ventura County Undersheriff Larry Carpenter.

Even more unusual for a police chief is his strong opposition to the death penalty. “We’re the only civilized society that continues to execute human beings,” Owens said.

Owens commands the respect of his troops, partly because he demands that they too follow the law. He said he reviews--and makes the final decision on--every citizen complaint. And when he thought an officer had gone too far last year, he took the police brutality case to the district attorney’s office, which filed a criminal complaint.

“I can’t protect one police officer at the expense of the rest of the department,” he said. “I have to protect the integrity of the department.”

Owens, an avid pipe smoker and father of two, said has enjoyed his career, but looks forward to a less stressful job as a private consultant--and more time with his second wife, Linda, whom he married last year.

“He’s retiring riding high on the outstanding performance of his department, and that’s always the best time to go out,” said Oxnard Councilman Michael Plisky.