Sheriff’s Mobile Mini-Station Inaugurated

More than 200 residents showed up Friday at the inauguration of a Sheriff’s Department mobile mini-station designed to provide law enforcement service to 10 unincorporated communities in western Ventura County.

“It is an effort we are making to provide services which would be difficult otherwise,” said Sheriff Larry Carpenter during the ribbon-cutting ceremony at the corner of Vineyard Avenue and Stroube Street in El Rio.

Carpenter said the 32-foot-long mini-station will be placed in the areas which do not have a sheriff’s station.

“Instead of going to our office in Ventura, residents will be able to get help from a station in their own neighborhood,” Carpenter said.

People will be able to report crimes and other problems directly to the mobile station.

The unit will also work as a link between residents and the county’s various social agencies, Carpenter said.

“This is a community service place,” Carpenter said.

For instance, he added, “If a resident needs medical or counseling assistance, the staff in the station can contact the various agencies in the county and make appointments for them.”

The mini-station has five emergency dispatching radios, a fax machine, cellular phones, laptop computers and a printer.

Christina Centeno, 20, of El Rio said she believes the presence of the mobile unit in the neighborhood will keep gang members at bay.

“I bet a lot of the gang members will not come out as much,” Centeno said. “This is one of the best things that could happen to our community.”

The children in the neighborhoods will also become more familiar with the sheriff’s deputies.

On Friday morning, 115 children from El Rio Recreation Center and El Rio School chatted with deputies who handed them stickers, storybooks and pencils.

“The young will learn to respect the cops,” said Lois Wall, a Silver Strand Beach resident who attended the opening ceremony. “Their presence will help to keep the kids away from drugs and violence.”

The staff in the mini-station will also provide patrols by foot and bicycle.

The neighborhoods selected for a weekly visit each are: Casitas Springs, Meiners Oaks, Hollywood Beach, Saticoy, Montalvo, Rincon, El Rio, Silver Strand Beach, Nyeland Acres and Oak View.

A location in each of those areas has been designated, and the station will be open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at a site designated in each of those communities.

It will be staffed by one sheriff’s deputy, a technician and two volunteers.