Ribbon Cutting (left to right) Lt. Brian Olmstead/SBSO, Sup Brooks Firestone/SB Co. 3rd Dist, Capt. Jeff Sgooba/CHP, Sheriff Bill Brown/SBSO, Chancellor Henry T. Yang/UCSB, Chief Bill Bean/UCSB Police

On Wednesday, December 10, dead in the middle of UCSB’s finals week, the ribbon was cut at the brand new Isla Vista Foot Patrol fortress — excuse me, I mean station — at 6504 Trigo Road.

Yes, the station has been open since the end of summer. What have they been doing for the last four months? Well, they did have to deal with Halloween… getting things in order probably took a while… planning this ceremony likely took a few weeks. Oh well, at least the station was fully up and functioning by the time they did the dedication, ribbon cutting and open house.

The dedication ceremony took place in front of the station, despite irritated bicyclists making disgruntled noises as they hopped off their bikes to walk around the crowd. The entire IVFP squad attended — in their full uniforms, no less — along with UCPD and CHP police, Chancellor Henry Yang, and even 3rd District Supervisor Brooks Firestone himself. On this, his last official occasion in I.V., he said he has enjoyed every moment of being here, which says to me that he really hasn’t spent much time here.

When Sheriff Bill Brown took the podium, he talked about the uniqueness of I.V. and why IVFP has developed the way it has. After the riots in early 1970, authorities recognized that I.V. would need a different kind of policing. Then-governor Ronald Reagan released the Trow Report, a study about the most effective ways to deal with I.V. and keep it under control without resorting to violence. Based on that, officials decided that a community-based policing system would work best. And so the IVFP was born, and became a partnership between the IVFP itself, UCPD and the CHP. Only three other policing efforts like the IVFP exist in California, said CHP Captain Jeff Sgobba.

The first IVFP station, opened on Dec. 1, 1970, was a former barbershop on “the loop”—the main business section I.V. in the shape of a loop, appropriately enough. Eventually it outgrew the barbershop and moved on to 6547 Pardall Road, which was more centrally located with the businesses. In 1992, they again relocated, this time across the street to the first floor of 6546 Pardall; two years later, they expanded the station to the second floor of the building as well. But as I.V. grew — in terms of population, not actual size — the IVFP started to feel squished in that 2800-square-foot and drew up plans for their new station on Trigo. Their present $4.2 million station, at a gargantuan 5300-square-feet, is spacious and, if you can believe it, often quiet.

This Trigo station is the first one actually designed for policing, complete with two detective offices, locker rooms and a couple beds for officers, and two holding cells.

“It’s definitely an upgrade from putting people on a folding chair,” Officer Gallagher, who has been with the IVFP since the early 1980s, remarked.

Overall, everybody seems pretty pumped about this Trigo station. Considering I.V. accounts for about a quarter of the total crime in Santa Barbara County, it’s about time we got a station with facilities that match the demand.

So, I don’t know if you can believe this or not, but the police are not a favorite public figure in Isla Vista. Wow, shocker, I know! It’s a college town, filled with rowdy kids doing illegal things. You never would have guessed the cops — the “evil doers” looking to ban fun — would be unpopular. To be honest, their reputation isn’t entirely undeserved. IVFP officers once implied to my girlfriends that they deserved to be treated like sluts. And there’s often anybody sitting at the front desk of this fancy new station to answer my phone calls or help people if they come in. But I nonetheless don’t think they deserve all the hate they get.

Without the police around, I.V. would dissolve into an absolute mess. It would be a war of all against all — as almost already happened in front of my house last week. And really, they’re nice people with good intentions. Perhaps all they needed was an effective station to become the most perfect police team ever. Only time will tell.

Related Links

• Previous Eye on Isla Vista columns

Comments

Discussion Guidelines

Local Weather

Currently:
Clear Sky
Temperature:
64.0°
Wind:
6 SSW

Surf Report