VENTURA : Fanfare Greets New Storefront Police Station

Amid balloons, speeches and the strains of a high school band, Ventura officials opened the city’s first storefront police station Tuesday as part of an effort to bring beat officers closer to the community they cover.

The storefront, at 6368 Bristol Road, will serve the Montalvo neighborhood on the city’s east end, much like Oxnard’s two substations in the Southwinds and La Colonia neighborhoods.

Two officers will work out of the donated retail space in Ventura, using it as a base for bicycle and walking patrols or undercover operations. Eventually, the storefront will be open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., but hours will vary until enough volunteers are trained to take reports and answer the phone.

During a ribbon-cutting ceremony Tuesday afternoon, Ventura Police Chief Richard Thomas hailed the storefront as the keystone in the department’s new effort at community-based policing, a trend that has been embraced by hundreds of police departments in recent years.

Two weeks ago, someone threw a rock at the storefront’s plate-glass window, cracking it. Thomas said that incident only showed how much the storefront is needed.

“There won’t be too many crimes that occur here that we won’t be right on top of, that we won’t know about,” he said.

Officer Jim Cubitt, a 24-year veteran of the department, said the storefront will “empower the people” of the Montalvo area by allowing them to tell police what the biggest crime problems are.

“Some have indicated it’s the beginning of neighborhood blight. . . . Others have mentioned drugs and gangs,” he said.

Standing to the back of the crowd gathered for the ceremony, 50-year-old Alfred Valenzuela said the increased presence was sorely needed.

“You don’t know what’s going to happen anymore; it’s scary,” he said, mentioning gang fights, drive-by shootings and drug dealing. “Somebody’s always getting shot, somebody’s always getting stabbed.

“This is what it’s all about,” Valenzuela said, gesturing toward a group of children performing from Montalvo School. “The kids. We want them to grow up. We don’t want it to be like L. A.”

Police said they hope to open a second storefront in the Ventura Avenue area in the next year, although no firm plans have been made.