Storefront Police Station Plans Proceed : Oxnard: The city is hoping a stepped-up officer presence in the Southwinds neighborhood will help in the area’s revitalization.

Oxnard police are moving forward with plans to open a storefront police station in the Southwinds neighborhood, hoping to permanently clean up the crime-plagued area and reverse its shady reputation.

Residents are hoping the storefront station, similar to one opened in La Colonia last year, will help ward off the graffiti, burglaries and occasional drug-related shootings that have long been part of life for Southwinds residents.

“If people know that police officers are here, maybe they’re less likely to be brazen and come out in the open and count their money before they buy their drugs,” said Maureen Finlay, president of the neighborhood council and a 22-year resident.

“I don’t think anyone should feel intimidated in their own neighborhood and I think that’s the way a lot of people feel,” Finlay said.

The city is now negotiating to open the storefront in a 1,600-square-foot vacant retail space in the 400 block of W. Hueneme Road. The owner has offered to donate the first year’s rent, said Dena Garcia, the redevelopment project manager for Southwinds.

On Thursday, residents will have a chance to discuss the storefront with Oxnard Police Chief Harold Hurtt and the officers who will be working the beat. The meeting will be held at the Skate Palace, 451 W. Hueneme Road, which is next door to the space where the city is planning to open the storefront.

The Southwinds storefront will operate much like one opened in La Colonia, where crime rates have since gone down. Storefront police stations and walking patrols are a hallmark of community-based policing, a concept in which officers and residents try to work together to find solutions to crime problems.

In Southwinds, an area of crowded low-rent apartments, officers will work out of the storefront, but will spend most of their time on foot and bike patrols.

Unlike the storefront in La Colonia, the Southwinds storefront will be funded with money from the Oxnard Redevelopment Agency. A total of $160,000 in redevelopment funds has now been earmarked for the Southwinds substation, most of which will cover the officers’ salaries. Garcia said the city is hoping the stepped-up police presence will prove to be a cornerstone for the redevelopment agency’s plans to revitalize the blighted area.

“That’s always been a major deterrent to getting the area developed,” Garcia said.

In 1988, police targeted the area’s most notorious thoroughfare, Aleric Street, now called Cuesta Del Mar, for an intense crackdown on drug dealers and prostitutes. The city spent more than $100,000 on foot patrols in a show of force.

But three years later, the number of robberies and serious assaults had rebounded to a level higher than before the crackdown.

In 1992, the number of calls for service in the small crime grid covering most of Southwinds jumped to 1,796--99 more than in 1991.

Oxnard Assistant Chief James Latimer said police agreed to open the Southwinds storefront because the redevelopment funds were available and because residents expressed a strong interest.

“They were willing to be movers and shakers in this,” he said. “The neighborhood council itself did a lot to get this thing going.”

Rick Mendoza, a board member in the homeowners association, said crime is one of the biggest concerns of most Southwinds residents.

“We need not just a show of force but a visual presence of an officer just to show they are here,” he said.

Police had planned to open the storefront office July 1. But the donated retail space still needs paint, carpet, electrical work and repairs to the ceiling, Garcia said. That work is scheduled to begin in the next few weeks.

However, police still plan to start walking patrols in the area July 1. Initially, the patrols will run from early morning to early evening, Latimer said.

“We’re going to have to do some analysis--feel-out from the people when and where the problems are occurring,” Latimer said.

Beyond making arrests and taking crime reports, police and residents say they hope the storefront will open the door to preventive programs and activities for youths.

Specifically, police and city recreation officials hope to start a Police Activity League in Southwinds, as well as in La Colonia and at Durley Park.