Plan to Move Police to Old School Advances

A Police Department plan to move into the old Oxnard High School campus has moved forward, with City Council members authorizing a department request to study how much the relocation would cost.

In a presentation to council members Tuesday night, Police Chief Harold Hurtt said the department is badly overcrowded at its downtown building and lacks room for basic needs such as parking and offices.

Under the proposal, the Police Department and possibly the Fire Department would move into the old high school campus, which has remained largely vacant since a new high school was built several years ago. The high school was shut down amid fears that the campus was in the flight path of Oxnard Airport, but police and airport officials say the department would use only portions of the campus in a designated safety zone.

In addition, Hurtt said the campus would be used to step up outreach between the city and the community: Police could have youth sports programs there and space could be leased to social service agencies that help crime victims.

The chief said the city could look into leasing its downtown headquarters to another government agency if the relocation plan is approved.

Residents, school officials and airport representatives lauded the plan at Tuesday’s City Council meeting.

So did council members, but they emphasized that taking a hard look at the move’s possible cost is the next step. Officials have said that buying the campus from the state and renovating it may cost several million dollars. The state took control of the property after funding construction of the new high school.

“I would hope there would be a more definitive cost” after the Police Department conducts further study, City Councilman Bedford Pinkard told Hurtt.

Hurtt and representatives from the office of Assemblyman Nao Takasugi (R-Oxnard) say they are lobbying leaders in Sacramento to turn the school property over to the city for as little as $1.