Peace Returns to Fillmore : Sheriff’s Storefront Earns Praise for Bringing an End to the Gang Violence That Had Plagued Area

A uniformed sheriff’s deputy stands by a shiny white counter, helping a teen-age boy with his schoolwork.

Nearby, a 5-year-old girl sprawls on the brown-carpeted floor, playing with toys. And not too far away, 15 youngsters sit around a large Formica-topped table, doing their homework or drawing with crayons.

The scene, from a recent afternoon at the Ventura County Sheriff’s Storefront in Fillmore, has been repeated nearly every day since the substation opened last September.

Deputies say the substation’s presence has helped wipe out gang violence in north Fillmore and, in the process, created a place where youngsters can do their homework in the afternoons, and, in the evenings, adults can learn about drug abuse and teen-agers can take classes on birth control.

“Life in this neighborhood used to be wild. We would hear gunshots every night and we were afraid of stepping outside our homes after dark,” said resident Lauro Recendez, 37. “But since we got the storefront, gangs have vanished and the community has reclaimed the neighborhood. It’s simply wonderful.”

For six months, volunteers and deputies worked during the weekends to refurbish the 800-square-foot abandoned laundry that gangs had taken over.

Now three sheriff’s deputies work at the facility, which is open six days a week and serves about 3,000 residents.

One deputy specializes in law enforcement, another provides drug-abuse education for youths and the third is a community relations deputy who tours the area on foot and by bicycle to maintain contact with the community.

“The Fillmore storefront has become a kind of haven in the neighborhood,” said Ventura County Sheriff Larry Carpenter, who lived in the area as a child. “It’s a great example of what deputies and the community can do together.”

Before the storefront opened, north Fillmore was the “heart of gangland,” in the city, said Max Pina, a sheriff’s deputy who has patrolled Fillmore for 25 years.

“This place was a total war zone,” said Pina, the community relations deputy. “Nearly everyday, police officers were assaulted. We would come into the area and have rocks and bottles thrown at us.”

The neighborhood’s five gangs, which included male and female groups, would make sure that hardly a night went by without a shooting, brawl, robbery or arson, Pina said.

Stabbings and drive-by shootings were common, Pina said. In one incident, gang members threw a pickax over a fence at a group of sheriff’s deputies, Pina said. They missed, he said.

Although there are no statistics on the area’s crime rate since the storefront opened, the Sheriff’s Department is preparing a report that it expects to release by the summer.

Residents say gangs ruled the neighborhood, but they were reluctant to talk to the police about the problem for fear of retaliation. Much of the neighborhood was virtually under siege, Pina and residents said.

“Nearly everyone in the neighborhood had huge bushes . . . in front of their homes,” Pina said. “It was their way of keeping gang members out.”

Today, most residents have trimmed back the barricades on their front lawns. Many parents now feel free to let their children play outside.

“We’ve seen a tremendous change,” said Eva Martinez, who has lived in the area for 28 years, nearly her whole life. “Our lives are much more tranquil. I don’t worry about my 5-year-old being a victim of a drive-by shooting anymore.”

Although officials do not attribute a 20% decrease in crime citywide in the past year to the storefront, they agree that it has helped.

“It has made a tremendous difference in the city’s overall crime rate,” said Lt. Richard Diaz, head of the Fillmore Sheriff’s Station. “Crime (in) the Lemon Way area is way down compared to a year ago.”

A change in the character of the mostly Latino neighborhood seemed inevitable in 1993, when the Sheriff’s Department obtained a $364,000 federal grant, which was matched by the city of Fillmore, Diaz said. The funding is enough to keep the center in operation for three years.

Once the funding was obtained, the next step was to find a location.

Officials had been eyeing the abandoned laundry, which belonged to the Lemon Way Homeowners Assn. After negotiations, the Sheriff’s Department and the city rented the facility from the association for $100 a month with an option to buy it.

But there was one problem, Pina said: The building was not in usable condition.

Its outside walls were covered with graffiti, the building was filled with trash and the only salvageable parts were the frame and outside walls.

“It was awful,” Pina said. “We had no roof, no floor, nothing.”

Without money to fix up the facility, Pina and other deputies appealed to the community for help.

Within weeks, painters, landscapers, construction workers and others volunteered to do the work.

In addition to completely remodeling the building, the volunteers built a playground, installed four barbecues and two outdoor tables with benches, and painted a mural.

“We could not have done without the help of the community,” Pina said.

During its first two months of operation, the storefront had only 60 visitors, which worried Pina. But the number of visitors gradually increased to about 950 a month.

“People did not trust cops. For them, the police only meant jail and tickets,” Pina said “People were either afraid of cops or they hated them.”

There is no patrol car assigned to the storefront, so when a resident walks in to report a crime, the deputies call the main station, which is two miles away, to send an officer.

Most of the complaints received at the storefront are related to civil disputes between neighbors, Pina said.

From the beginning, some organizations saw the storefront as more than just a police substation.

Immediately after it opened, several county agencies and nonprofit groups contacted the Sheriff’s Department to offer their services to the community at the facility.

The county’s migrant education program now sends a teacher four days a week to help children with their homework.

And throughout the day, several classes and workshops are offered ranging from courses in citizenship and English-language to classes on AIDS, prenatal care and nutrition.

“It’s the community center that we never had,” said longtime resident Recendez. “It’s the greatest gift the city gave to this community.”