New Police Substation Planning Open House

The Oak View police substation is opening this week at a new location: the shopping center at Beach Boulevard and Slater Avenue.

Officers will begin working out of the new substation after computer equipment is installed, Lt. Luis Ochoa said. The facility will serve the primarily Latino neighborhood of Oak View and the surrounding area.

The previous substation at the Oak View Community Center was cramped and inadequate, Ochoa said. The new facility at Vista Centre, 17483 Beach Blvd., is much larger, Ochoa said.

Mayor Dave Sullivan said of the move: “It’s a step forward because it will give citizens a highly visible place to interact with the police.”

A federal grant will pay for $30,000 in improvements to the facility, which the shopping center’s owners are leasing to the city for $1 a year.

Two police officers will work from the substation this summer, Ochoa said, with people from the department’s citizen volunteer program joining them later.

Ochoa said the Oak View substation was established about five years ago at the request of the area’s residents: “They felt there was a real strong need for officers to be assigned to that community because of ongoing problems of gangs and narcotics.”

Sandy Najera, 14, who lives in Oak View, said the police presence has definitely improved her neighborhood. “They have stopped all the violence and the gangs. We don’t have to worry about getting shot, and we can go outside and play,” she said.