Volunteer-Run Police Substation in Works

A stalled plan to create a police substation in the busy downtown area has been revived by city officials who say a volunteer-run facility could be in operation by summer.

The city’s only police station is in a remote section of the city across from the Naval Weapons Station, far from the downtown pier area that attracts most of the city’s tourists. Downtown residents and merchants have long encouraged the city to build a police substation in the area.

But because of a tight city budget, the substation idea has evolved into something city officials are tentatively calling a “community safety facility.” A number of residents and community groups have pledged time, materials and money to build an addition to the lifeguard station at the pier which would be staffed with volunteers and reserve police officers.

“We just have all these residents wanting to achieve this,” Councilwoman Marilyn Bruce Hastings said. “They have seen an increase in graffiti and more instances of burglaries. The people just want to keep this a family town where they feel safe to walk the pier after dark.”

Residents were shaken by the fatal shooting March 12 of an Arco gas station attendant in Seal Beach during a robbery. Police last month arrested two reputed teen-age gang members from Long Beach in connection with the shooting.