Grip of Fear Easing as Crime Rate Drops in La Colonia Area

The cryptic graffiti on the wall of El Toro Market is a simple reminder that gangs are alive and well in Oxnard’s La Colonia neighborhood.

But the graffiti is deceptive and doesn’t tell the whole story.

Only four years ago, that corner of Cooper Road and Hayes Street was the drug dealing capital of Ventura County and a haven for gang members who held the neighborhood hostage.

Today, in a turnaround that officials attribute to the success of community-based policing, the reported crime rate in La Colonia has decreased by 49%.

Residents say the fear factor has decreased significantly and credit the Oxnard police officers who have kept a vigilant eye on their neighborhood since a police storefront opened nearly four years ago.

The drop in crime, from drug dealing to burglaries to car thefts, has made a visible and palpable difference in the quality of life, residents say.

Business owners along Cooper Road say they no longer need to walk around the clusters of young men hanging around public telephones making drug deals.

Police say where there was once distrust, now a true partnership exists with residents. Neighborhood cooperation, such as forming a Neighborhood Watch group and regularly reporting crimes, has been critical to their success, police say.

Although the drug and gang problem has not disappeared, police and residents say significant inroads have been made and a sense of community pride has been established.

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“Things are real good right now,” said Consuelo Camberos, owner of La Paloma restaurant, whose building houses the police storefront. “They took out the telephones where the drug dealers would make phone calls. Things have improved almost 100%. I give all the credit to the police. We are really happy right now.”

Only a few years ago, Camberos’ building was firebombed in what was seen as retaliation for opening up the storefront. Life along Cooper and Hayes was not tranquil or happy.

Drug dealing was the first problem officers needed to attack.

In 1991, police arrested 416 suspected dealers and users in a three-block area surrounding the intersection. The arrests accounted for more than 20% of the drug busts citywide.

In 1995, police made only 67 narcotics-related arrests in the same area.

Officer Bob Camarillo recalled seeing out-of-towners--mainly white males--in conspicuous luxury cars driving to the corner allegedly to buy drugs.

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These folks, from Simi Valley, Santa Barbara and even San Diego, knew exactly where to go to buy heroin and cocaine, according to police.

Several legitimate businesses on Cooper Road doubled as profitable drug markets. All of them, officers say, have been wiped out.

Next, officers went after landlords who failed to keep tabs on renters, effectively turning the other way when tenants sold drugs on their property. After police called out the Fire Department, code enforcement and turned up the heat on slumlords, many of the residential drug dealers were weeded out.

Along with the drug dealers, there were winos who loitered in front of the dozen liquor stores and bars that covered the one-mile area along Cooper Road. Today, only two bars remain in that area and none of the markets have a liquor license, according to police.

“There were so many drunkards before,” said Sophia Ba, owner of El Toro Market. “Now people are afraid of the police. We don’t have any problems anymore.”

Oxnard Mayor Manuel Lopez said he is pleased with the turnaround of Cooper and Hayes.

“I used to get a lot of calls over the years from parents and businesses in that area and they were all very negative,” said Lopez, who grew up in La Colonia. “They used to see people urinating in the street and all kinds of horrible things. Things have changed dramatically. Community-based policing has had very, very positive results.”

Although store owners do not see the same type of illegal activity that was once so prevalent and unmasked, police acknowledge that those problems have not vanished.

Every morning, Officer Ernie Eglin rides his bicycle through the back alleys surrounding Cooper and Hayes and cites winos for being drunk in public.

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Drug dealing, though less overt according to police, has moved shop, down the street to Rose Park.

On a recent morning, Officers Eglin and Camarillo stopped a man they say is a known heroin dealer for erratic driving. After examining his constricted pupils and reviewing the “fresh” needle marks on his arm, fast pulse and nervously shaking leg, they booked him on suspicion of being under the influence of cocaine and heroin.

“We have a major heroin dealing problem out here,” Camarillo said. “There is a problem, but we are aggressively addressing that.”

In addition to the drug problem, gangs in La Colonia are still part of the landscape. Mothers who take their children to the park complain about “cholos,” as the gang members are called, sneaking into the women’s bathroom to shoot up or have sex. They still fear these young men.

“There are a lot of police around,” said Imelda Galaviz as she and a friend sat on a picnic table surrounded by their children. “But there are still a lot of bums around. There are still a lot of assaults around here.”

Despite the continuing presence of such social ills as gangs and drugs, residents are communicating with police to combat crime. Two years ago, a Neighborhood Watch committee was formed.

Police Chief Harold Hurttsaid the success in combating crime on Cooper and Hayes is due to efforts of officers and residents.

“These storefronts are the center for drawing neighbors together,” said Hurtt, adding that the Colonia storefront was the catalyst behind the storefront that recently opened in the Southwinds area. “I don’t think there is much credit that management can take. The credit goes to the officers and the neighborhood.”

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Neighborhood council President Vicki Gonzalez maintained that residents no longer fear police, but now consider them allies in a struggle to clean up the neighborhood.

“Years back nobody trusted the police here,” said Gonzalez, a lifelong resident of La Colonia. “They help us with anything. All I have to do is ask. It’s a really open relationship. The officers really take time to listen to any concerns, especially with the children. The kids are so influenced by them.”

The issue of trust, according to Camarillo, is critical for police to succeed. The relationship these officers have cultivated with many of the residents has been carefully established.

“Within the last couple of years, we have been able to come over here and build the trust back up,” Camarillo said. “We have to maintain that and not let that go.”

Maintaining that trust means being able to acknowledge when police step over the boundaries of enforcement and into brutality, Camarillo said. When residents call to question police behavior, Camarillo said, they discuss the situation and try to come up with a solution.

The relationship, or partnership as police like to call it, also includes honest dialogue with parents who are slow to discipline children who might be using drugs.

“These things allow us to sit down and talk to [parents] and tell them that maybe they need to boot [the older child] out because he is doing drugs in front of the little ones,” Camarillo said.

Eglin and Camarillo see themselves as reverting to “traditional police work” where each is part social worker, mentor, care taker and enforcer.

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Every month they arrange field trips with dozens of neighborhood children who, in most cases, have never ventured past the railroad tracks that mark the western border of La Colonia.

Most funding for these trips and for police overtime comes from the Public Housing Drug Elimination Program, which is federally funded. These children, Camarillo said, have never seen a lake or the ocean, and when they experience it, a world of opportunities opens up to them.

Camarillo said that although some Police Department heads question the need for these recreational activities, he sees those trips to the beach, Raging Waters amusement park and local camping sites as important aspects in forming a tight relationship with children in the neighborhood.

“We are doing police work,” said Camarillo, who has one son. “There is a lot more weight in that I don’t have to arrest these kids. Prevention, intervention, education and enforcement--that’s what we are doing.”

Neighborhood council President Gonzalez said their efforts have paid off.

“Colonia is a lot quieter. Our crime rate is way down. We are trying to promote cleanups,” said Gonzalez. “We are really trying. A lot of people see this as the bad side of town and that is really not the case.”