TUSTIN : Community Gets Involved in Policing

Community-based policing is not a new idea, but the Tustin Police Department has found it an effective one.

The Community Improvement Partnership Program (CIPP), operating in Tustin for almost two years, combines local policing with community involvement.

To run the program, the department has divided the city between Officers Barney LaBarge and Jeff Beeler, who serve as liaisons to local business owners, apartment managers and residents. They work with the community to pinpoint problems and prevent recurring crimes.

“It’s looking at the cause of the problem, rather than running around putting out lots of little fires,” said Beeler, who has been a member of the Tustin police force since 1979.

The officers say they find the input they receive from residents helpful in understanding the problems in different neighborhoods.

“We’re trying to work with the community to jointly identify problems,” said LaBarge, who has also been a member of the force since 1979 and has worked in Orange County law enforcement since 1963.

“We see problems, and the residents often see an entirely different problem,” he said. “We work with them to try to clear them up.”

The department determines by computer where most complaints originate and then focuses on those areas, Beeler said.

In the past, he said, calls were often treated separately, and officers might return to the same site many times.

Now, if one place has recurring problems, police will look into the causes and try to prevent future incidents.

“In our analysis we might find we are spending way too much time on one (apartment) complex,” Beeler said. “The solution might be as simple as going out and talking to the people, letting them know we have problems, or talking to the manager.”

LaBarge and Beeler also meet monthly with apartment complex managers, which they say has had an impact on attitudes in the community and on their ability to make a difference.

“It puts us out front, makes us more responsive,” Beeler said.

Apartment managers agree that working together has solved problems within the community.

“This is an absolutely effective program,” said Maryanne Krueckeberg, president of Schroeder Management, which runs two apartment complexes in Tustin.

“The Tustin Police Department is most cooperative and helpful in fighting drugs,” she said.

“From the beginning when gangs moved into neighborhoods, they alerted us. They are more accessible and have been helpful in doing things to discourage gang members from hanging out in front of our buildings,” Krueckeberg said.

The department’s goal, LaBarge said, is to combine the old-fashioned beat cop--who used to walk the streets and get to know the residents--with modern technology and equipment to solve crimes quickly and more efficiently.

“This type of police work is going backward,” LaBarge said.

“We go back in time to get a closer community feel but blend it with computers and with modern equipment,” he said.

The result of the program, LaBarge and Beeler agree, has been less crime and a better relationship between police and residents.

“Tustin has always been a caring city, but we didn’t always get the message out there,” LaBarge said. “Now I’m involved with the day-to-day problems; they can see I care.”