Residents Give Police Some Constructive Criticism

In the wake of seven homicides since New Year’s Day, a small cadre of residents turned out at a south Oxnard auditorium Monday night to give police an earful.

“There’s too much violence, too many shootings,” said Mike Moraga, an Oxnard native. “Let’s start doing something about it.”

“We need more police officers acting as mentors in schools to show kids there’s a better way,” suggested Danie Navas.

“Police need to give kids alternatives,” added Roy Simmons, another Oxnard resident. “They need more activities and places for them to go. They have nothing to do. That’s why they hang out in the streets all the time.”

But the police could hardly complain: They asked for it. Police set up the Future Focus civic forum to gain community input for the department’s three- to five-year plan.

“We wanted a face-to-face meeting with the community to see what their concerns were,” Cmdr. Joe Munoz said.

Monday’s meeting quickly broke into small discussion group, where police officers moderated comments from about a dozen residents concerning problems facing the city. Then the forum turned on the spotlights and put the residents, and their ideas, on cable television for an hour.

Eleanor Branthoover, from the Rio Linda neighborhood, urged the Police Department to continue its gang task force.

“We need gang suppression full time. When you let the gangs know you’re watching them, they take their activities elsewhere,” she said.

She also urged a more vigilant approach to code enforcement.

“The city needs to clean up after itself,” Branthoover said. “When you feel better about the city, you feel better about yourself.”

A special task force of police and city officials will sift through information gained at Monday night’s meeting and hundreds of surveys to come up with a blueprint for the department’s future by mid-May, Munoz said.

Fears of gang violence surfaced over and over again. Other topics included the need for more jobs and youth activities.

“By far the No. 1 concern seems to be gang violence,” said Officer Tom Chronister, a department spokesman. “It’s touching more and more lives all over the city.”

Five people were gunned down in Oxnard in the month of January. Since then, Anthony Moore, 30, of Oxnard was shot and killed Feb. 17 by an acquaintance during an argument, and Daniel Garcia Lara, 18, of Port Hueneme was shot dead Saturday by suspected gang members.

“Gang are definitely a problem,” said Mel Otte, who has lived in Oxnard more than 50 years. “They’re getting worse and worse and worse. Too many homicides, too much gang graffiti.”

“Too many drugs in the city,” said his wife, Nancy. “It’s too easy for people to get them. I’d like to see the city the way it used to be.”

Many of the residents acknowledged that the blame does not lie solely with the police.

“Residents should start accepting responsibility for their own kids,” Mel Otte said.

“Not enough people are getting involved,” Moraga said. “Too many people are afraid of retaliation.”

Still, he added, the police could do things to help. “We want more face-to-face contact. Police officers should stop and say, ‘Hi,’ and get to know the communities better. It’s not hard to do.”

Monday’s forum comes as the Police Department is preparing its $22-million budget, which covers 168 sworn officers and about 100 civilian employees. The department is considering adding a full-time gang unit, upgrading its computers, opening more storefront stations and even opening a store that sells T-shirts and self-protection equipment, such as pepper spray.

In addition to inviting citizens to sound off, the department handed out several hundred anonymous surveys with questions such as, “Do you believe Oxnard is a safe place to live?” and “What do you see as the biggest issues facing the community today?” More surveys are available at City Hall; the Police Department, 251 S. C St., and its two satellite stations; and on the Internet, https://www.west.net/streetbt.

Chronister encouraged residents to fill out a survey and return it by the end of March.

“These surveys will definitely help us decide the future direction of the department,” Chronister said. “We want input on how we can do our job better.”

One step, Police Chief Harold Hurtt said, would be to draw more people out for community forums like the one Monday night. Only about 12 residents turned out for the discussion.