According to the Santa Barbara County Civil Grand Jury, crowds in Isla Vista have run amok and trampled on the I.V. Foot Patrol’s authority. A report released by the Grand Jury on Thursday stated that the IVFP “has failed to maintain control of the community in which it serves.”
Lt. Tom McKinny, head of the IVFP, said he disagreed with many of the findings in the report.
“The Grand Jury, from what I know, was here on Halloween and one time before that. They got a snapshot of this town and consequently based the report on that. Anyone not familiar with the 25-plus years of I.V. history would have culture shock and would believe that we’ve lost control,” McKinny said.
The report also found problems with the IVFP’s community relations, claiming that “there is a loss of respect and trust of those citizens within [the IVFP’s] jurisdiction.” The report attributed this alleged loss of trust to “misguided enforcement of policy and lax leadership.” McKinny said he found fault with this finding as well.
“The foot patrol has a very good relationship with the community. We have a storefront community office. People come in to ask questions and to ask for advice every day,” McKinny said.
McKinny cited the station’s physical setup as conducive to good public relations
“Most police stations have Plexiglas doors and buzzers to get inside. The IVFP began in 1970. The concept was to have a storefront open-door policy,” McKinny said.
However, the report found potential safety problems with the IVFP’s headquarters. It claimed that holding roll call in front of a streetside window endangered the officers. “The substation is a converted store and provides none of the protection a dedicated police station offers,” the report stated.
“Whoever authored that portion [of the report] has a preconceived notion of what a police station is. We haven’t had any incidents,” McKinny said.
The Grand Jury recommended that the IVFP should more strictly enforce noise ordinances, disturbing the peace violations and zero-tolerance laws.
“We enforce zero tolerance as staffing permits. That doesn’t mean that we catch everybody, it means that when we catch someone we take enforcement action,” McKinny said.
The report also found that taxpayer dollars were being spent cleaning up the trash left by weekend parties. It recommended that those arrested during celebrations, along with inmates from the county’s Honor Farm and possibly from Juvenile Hall, be made to clean up the mess instead of people on the payroll of the county or private entities.
The Grand Jury stated that it believed that the student population of I.V. had not received the proper education to inform them of the responsibilities of community citizens.
“We are confident that they will respond favorably to expectations placed upon them to avoid disruptions and chaos and make their neighborhood a pleasant and safer place to live,” the report stated.
