Foot Soldiers : Ventura Police Officers Find Street Beat Is No Walk in the Park

On some days, Officer Bob MacInnes’ beat--patrolling Ventura’s downtown area on foot--can be pretty placid.

Between chatting with merchants and keeping an eye on the local homeless, he often covers 10 miles in a shift without breaking a sweat or catching a crook.

Wednesday, however, was not one of those days.

By 2 p.m., MacInnes had sprinted after a robbery suspect, discovered the scene of a possible suicide and toured three abandoned homes littered with broken glass, porno magazines and cardboard boxes used for makeshift beds.

“We can help out with a lot of things,” he said. “Today, we just happened to be in the right place at the right time.”

Like old-fashioned beat cops, Ventura’s walking patrol officers spend much of their time simply being seen, hoping their presence will deter crime. But they also listen to gripes from merchants and receive tips about criminal activity.

Although Ventura’s foot patrol was launched five years ago, it expanded to a seven-day-a-week beat in April at the request of city officials. Before that, the beat was worked only sporadically, said Sgt. Carl Handy, who supervises the walking patrol. Oxnard police also use walking patrols, but foot officers there target high-crime areas.

In Ventura, officers who walk the beat also have the choice of riding mountain bicycles. They patrol an area bounded by Thompson Boulevard on the south, Poli Street on the north, 1st Street on the east and Ventura Avenue on the west.

City planner Pat Richardson said the city manager’s office asked for the beefed-up patrol after merchants and residents who shopped downtown said there was a safety problem.

“They had concerns about the homeless and some of the nighttime crime activity that occurs,” he said.

Ventura city officials also looked to larger urban areas where foot patrols are more common.

“Most large cities either have a horse patrol or foot patrol,” he said. “They’re much more mobile in being able to deal with the people they need to deal with.”

Since the patrol began, Richardson said, merchants have told him they’ve noticed a difference.

“Some of the merchants would actually like to see more of the police presence downtown on the foot patrol,” he added.

Dee Frisbie, owner of the Shakey’s Pizza on East Santa Clara Street, said fewer panhandlers have bothered his customers. “When you have a police presence, there’s less crime,” he said.

Handy said it is too soon to tell if the patrols have led to a decrease in the crime rate downtown.

On a typical day, MacInnes or Officer John Dean, also assigned to the beat, will park their patrol car downtown by midmorning and begin strolling Main Street, just as tourists begin to appear and merchants are opening shop.

“Hiya, hiya, hiya,” shouted Arthur Costello, 76, the manager of Karen’s Bakery & Deli, as MacInnes walked by.

“How’s business today?” the officer asked.

“It’s in and out like a hamburger,” Costello replied.

Much of the beat involves going places that would be inaccessible in a patrol car. The officers recently began walking through the abandoned homes in the 200 block of East Santa Clara Street, one of which was torched in a suspicious fire Tuesday morning.

Despite the evidence that people had been breaking into the homes and drinking in the back yards, there were no signs telling trespassers to keep out.

“I don’t know why they go to the trouble of putting the fence up and not put up a couple of $5 signs saying no trespassing,” MacInnes said.

Later, he checked a small dirt park near Ventura’s promenade that has become a draw for the homeless. Five or six regulars at the park waved as MacInnes walked by.

But the most exciting part of MacInnes’ day involved a hunt for a robbery suspect who was later arrested.

After hearing the suspect’s description--a teen-ager wearing a white T-shirt and a black beanie--MacInnes and Officer Randy Janes searched a brushy area near the railroad tracks by the Ventura County Fairgrounds.

Minutes later, the 18-year-old was found hiding under a blanket in an orange Volkswagen van. He was identified by two witnesses and arrested on suspicion of robbing 80-year-old Jack Morgan as he collected $1 bills from cars parking at the fairgrounds.

“After you have a job like this, it’s hard to imagine doing something else,” MacInnes said later. “I guess it’s the adrenaline.”