EAST COUNTY : MOORPARK : Meetings Scheduled in Response to Brawl

Moorpark will hold a series of public meetings aimed at fostering a better relationship between the community and Ventura County sheriff’s deputies, partly in response to a recent brawl between a group of residents and deputies.

Council members decided to schedule the meetings and instructed Sheriff’s Lt. Geoff Dean, who heads Moorpark law enforcement, to return next month with a detailed plan for the sessions that would begin early next year.

The impetus for the decision is an Oct. 18 incident on 2nd Street in downtown Moorpark, when six residents ranging in age from 19 to 46 were arrested after allegedly fighting with deputies trying to arrest a man for drinking in public. The skirmish sparked an internal departmental investigation that is continuing.

Mayor Paul Lawrason met with downtown residents a few days after the incident and said he wanted to see some effort from the city to address residents’ complaints. Residents of downtown Moorpark have been the most critical of deputies, at times calling their enforcement tactics overbearing and racist.

After considering a single meeting with residents, the council last week agreed on a coordinated series of discussions aimed at a deeper understanding between the public and its police.

“I would like to see us come up with a program for early next year that will bring us some results,” Councilman Scott Montgomery said.

Dean, who was asked to plan the initiative, said he was working on such an outreach even before the recent incident.

“My intent was to go out to the community to present to them what we’re doing, give them an overview of the crime in the city and basically ask them: ‘What’s important to you, are we doing everything you want us to do?’ ” Dean said.

Dean said the council’s concern adds priority to the sessions.

“If there are some poor perceptions out there, we want to correct that,” Dean said. “And if there are some real problems, certainly we want to correct them.”