The Oxnard Police Department has been chosen the co-winner of the 2008 James Q. Wilson Award for Excellence in Community Policing, awarded by the Regional Community Policing Institute – California.

This award is presented by the Regional Community Policing Institute – California (RCPI-CA), in association with the Office of the Attorney General, California Department of Justice. The purpose of this award is to recognize California law enforcement agencies that have successfully institutionalized the Community Policing philosophy. One agency each year is chosen as the recipient of the award and two others receive recognition as finalists. This year, the Oxnard Police Department and the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department – Carson Station tied for first place out of 27 entries.

The selections were made by a panel of experts who have no affiliation with any of the nominated agencies and were coordinated by the Director of the RCPI-CA. The recipient of the award will be featured in the Police Executive Research Forum (PERF) quarterly newsletter, Problem Solving Quarterly. Each nomination was judged on the following criteria:

• Problem Solving – The level of agency commitment to solving public safety and disorder issues.
• Partnership with the Community – The level of agency collaboration with the community while addressing public safety and disorder issues.
• Partnership with Public and Private Organizations/Agencies – The level of agency collaboration with other public and private organizations/ agencies while addressing public safety and disorder issues.
• Institutionalization – The extent that the Community Policing philosophy has been integrated throughout the agency (e.g. percentage of personnel involved, training, relationship to promotional processes, etc.).
• Results – What have been the positive outcomes that can be linked to the chosen Community Policing Strategy and how were they determined?

This award comes as the result of many years of hard work by the men and women of the Oxnard Police Department who have successfully woven Community Policing into the fabric of the Department. It serves as an acknowledgment of the sworn and civilian employees who work every day at finding new and better ways to partner with all segments of the community in order to provide a safer City. The Department’s ‘Neighborhood Policing Strategy’, which was implemented three years ago, has been the latest modification to 30 years of Community Policing under four Police Chiefs. This latest approach seeks to customize police service to the neighborhood level.

The award will be presented during the California Crime Prevention Officer’s Association’s 34th annual training conference in Sacramento on September 17, 2008.

Oxnard Police Departments Neighborhood Policing Strategy and Community Policing Model

INCIDENT: Attempt Murder/ Gang related
DATE/TIME: 02/24/08
LOCATION: 1800 block of Gaucho Way, Oxnard
VICTIM/S: Male resident of Oxnard, 26 years of age.  Name is withheld due to concerns about possible retaliation
SUSPECT/S: Two Hispanic males one armed with a handgun, 18-21 years of age wearing a dark clothing.
WITNESS/ES: One witness, name is being withheld due to concerns about possible retaliation
SUSPECT VEHICLE: Unknown
LOSS: Gunshot wounds wound to the upper body
PREPARED BY: Fred Sedillos, Sergeant, Violent Crimes Unit

DETAILS:

On 2/24/08 at 0220 hours a 26 year male is dropped off at SJRMC by two unknown males.  The victim had sustained a gunshot wound to the torso. The witnesses that were contacted could little information or were not cooperative with investigating officers. Preliminary information indicates that the victim was possibly shot in front of the residence where a party had taken place earlier.  The victim’s wounds are life threatening and he is in critical condition.

ANYONE WITH INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT DET. Ken Peeples @ 486-6297. CALLERS CAN ALSO REMAIN ANONYMOUS BY CALLING 982-7043

DETAILS: On 8-16-2008 at approximately 9:30 am Officers from the Oxnard Police Department responded to a call of a shooting victim in the 2300 Block of N. Oxnard Blvd. Upon their arrival the officers learned that the victim, identified as 55 year old Gurmohinder Singh had just made a cash withdraw from the US Bank located at Vineyard and Oxnard Blvd. As Singh walked out of the bank, he was confronted by a single suspect armed with a handgun. The suspect immediately shot the victim and took the victim’s money which was still in his hands. The suspect then fled the area on foot, North through the parking lot.

Mr. Singh was pronounced dead at the scene. The suspect was described as possibly a Latin male, early 20s, wearing a distinctive shirt with one half of the shirt being red and the other blue. The suspect was wearing jeans and a blue and red baseball type cap.

Oxnard Police were assisted by the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department and Hueneme Police Department. SWAT Officers and a Sheriff’s helicopter combed the area for several hours in an attempt to locate the suspect.

No arrests have been made and the suspect has not been identified. If anyone recognizes the possible suspect in the photograph or has information relating to the homicide, detectives are asking that you contact Detective Michael Young at 385-7606 or leave a message on the Violent Crimes Hotline at 982-7070.

*

An investigation is continuing.

DETAILS: 
On August 4, 2008 at about 11:30 PM, detectives from the Oxnard Police Department served a search warrant, in the city of Ventura, at the home of Oxnard Police Officer Matthew Purnell. Purnell was placed under arrest for grand theft (487 Penal Code) and for filing a false police report (148.5 Penal Code). Purnell was also placed on administrative leave from the Department.

Officers Larry Eklund and Jim Evans were deployed on high visibility patrol in Southwinds Park on Saturday, November 3. Indeed, this was “high” visibility patrol. Both officers were on horses, Clinton and J-J. This marked the first known neighborhood deployment of the Oxnard Police Department’s Mounted Unit. Jim Evans developed the game plan, namely crime prevention with an emphasis on positive resident interaction.

“My opinion of you has changed,” remarked one resident. Officer Evans had had many prior exchanges with this person and, somehow, seeing Jim on the horse changed everything. That was not the only positive encounter. Two teenage girls just couldn’t leave the horses alone. The two stood in front of the Southwinds Storefront petting and talking to the horses.

While public relations was certainly one reason for deploying the Mounted Unit, the mounted officers were also there to reduce crime. During the 6 hour deployment Officers Eklund and Evans wrote a motorist a citation for driving on a suspended license and towed his vehicle. They also arrested someone for peddling counterfeit DVDs.

On Friday, December 7 and 21, Officers Eklund and Evans were deployed to the “Shopping at the Rose” shopping center again for high visibility patrol. This time the focus was on theft prevention from the retail stores and in the parking lot. The officers worked two successful 6 hour deployments. In addition to the several contacts and photo opportunities with the public and businesses, they found time to locate and arrest a subject for an outstanding warrant.

Stay tuned for future deployments……

Since early 2000, the Oxnard Police Department has been conducting electronic fingerprinting services to the public. Since that time, the demand for this service has increased as legislation has become stricter in conducting background checks for licensing and employment. Where at one point it took several weeks to receive the results of a fingerprint background check, organizations can now receive State results as quickly as 24 hours from the time the fingerprints are submitted.

There are a variety of reasons why a person would need to have their fingerprints taken for background checks. Licensing agencies for real estate professionals, social service workers (for child and elderly care) and security guards are some examples that have strict guidelines one must pass before they are given the license. Government agencies and schools also require that background checks be on file before they can hire an individual. Police agencies are some of the strictest government agencies and must have a clearance through the Department of Justice, FBI, Child Abuse Index and a firearms clearance for police officers.

At the City of Oxnard, when applying for a permit, such as to drive a taxi, the applicant must first have a background check conducted through the electronic fingerprint process (live scan). Our local city ordinances dictate what offenses cannot be on one’s record before they are issued a permit. These offenses vary depending on permit. Background checks on individuals who are doing business within the city, such as door-to-door solicitors or street vendors, are conducted to keep our community safe. The Police Department receives notification of any arrests on anyone who holds an active permit and if the arresting offense makes them ineligible for the permit, they can have their permit revoked.

On Monday June 9th, Communications Training Coordinator Danah DeVries Palmer had the singular honor of being one of the training instructors for the National Emergency Number Association (NENA) Conference this year. She chose as her topic “How to Create an Awesome Quality Assurance Customer Service Program”.

Danah has been described as a “caffeinated cheerleader”. She specializes in high energy presentations on several topics including customer service and tactical communication. She is, of course, also quite interested in following through with quality assurance measurements guaranteeing dispatcher success.

Danah has a very full life and found that she had several commitments the weekend prior to her Monday class as well as the rest of the week. Therefore, in typical Danah style, she flew out of Burbank Airport at 9 p.m. Sunday night and arrived in Tampa, Florida at 7:30 on Monday. Since her class was not scheduled until 2 p.m., this gave her an opportunity to enjoy a few hours of the conference. After her class, she was scheduled to leave Tampa at 5 p.m. but was delayed for several hours by area lightning storms. She finally arrived home at 1:30 the following (Tuesday) morning. Of course, she was at a 9-1-1 Group meeting at 9 a.m. that same morning!

Her course was described as follows: “Does your agency have great customer service skills? Do your dispatchers provide quality service to all their customers? The answer is probably “I think so”, but can you prove it? Could they be even better? This presentation will provide an overview of how to put together a program that will show off the skills of telecommunicators, provide training where needed and improve the service provided to our customers.”

Danah was pivotal in renovating Oxnard Police/Fire Communications' Quality Assurance Program and continues to administer it. She shared with those in attendance how it was developed and implemented as well as the documents used to record and track performance. She covered the Customer Service Surveys that are sent out to the public for feedback and how our quality assurance committee was formed from Communications employees. How to deal with remediation and discipline was also addressed. Danah is a big supporter of recognizing good performance and uses the quality assurance program to spotlight that as well.

There were several attendees who were ready to learn and eagerly accepted the handouts Danah had prepared. She has already heard from some of them who are enthusiastic about developing their own program. Congratulations Danah for sharing such an important aspect of what we do to maintain our excellent service!

As a firearms owner, you are responsible for knowing how to properly handle your firearms in a safe manner in your home. Firearm accidents in the home can be prevented simply by making sure that firearms are kept unloaded and safely stored, with ammunition secured in a separate location and inaccessible to children. As a firearms owner, your most important responsibility is ensuring that children cannot encounter loaded firearms. In keeping a firearm in the home, whether it be for safety, hunting, or target shooting, your objective should be to have the firearm readily available to you, yet not accessible to others.

Accidents involving firearms in the home have decreased significantly over the last 20 years, according to the National Safety Council. The Oxnard Police Department would like to ensure that this downward trend continues. With the help of Project ChildSafe, which is a nationwide program whose purpose is to promote safe firearms handling and storage practices, the Oxnard Police Department will be distributing free gun locking devices. The locking devices are available at the Oxnard Police Department Property Room, 251 South “C” Street, from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., Monday Through Friday. The property room may also be reached at 805-385-7738 if you should have any questions.

The ChildSafe program is supported by a Department of Justice grant, the National Shooting Sports Foundation and is a component of Project Safe Neighborhoods. To find out more about the ChildSafe program, their website is http://projectchildsafe.com.

The Oxnard Police Department is proud to have recently added a special tribute to those employees that retired with honor from our organization. The main hallway of the second floor in the Public Safety Building is now lined with pictures and engraved nameplates of sworn officers and civilians who retired with honor after twenty years or more with the Oxnard Police Department. The second floor hallway has always had historical pictures from throughout the 100-year existence of the Oxnard Police Department but seemed to be lacking a direct tribute to our predecessors.

In the fall of 2007, members of the Professional Standards Division began compiling past photographs and contacting retired employees hoping they would provide pictures of themselves from their career with the Oxnard Police Department. We have received a tremendous response from our retirees who seem excited at the prospect of adding some much needed nostalgia to our hallways. It is fascinating for our employees, both young and old, to walk the hallway and not only inquire, “Who is that?”, but to see faces of old friends and reminisce about forgotten memories.

The final step in the completion of the honor wall will be a special tribute to all former Chiefs of Police with the Oxnard Police Department. We are busy putting the finishing touches on pictures of every single Chief that has ever graced the halls of the Oxnard Police Department. We look forward to the completion of this exciting project and invite anyone that visits the Oxnard Police Department to take a minute to “walk the hallway” and enjoy the memories generated by our new honor wall.

The Oxnard Police Department has provided their Dispatch and Records personnel with customer service training throughout the month of January. The training was designed to enhance and support those skills which are necessary for the public to have positive police interaction. The department recognizes that our personnel are often dealing with people in crisis and it is our responsibility to make their experience as positive as possible.

The training was an eight hour class which was provided on four different occasions. The class covered such topics as ways to place callers on hold, recognizing communication pitfalls such as voice inflection or attitude, providing positive explanations, recognizing body language and facial expressions and understanding public expectations.

The class was interactive and provided a forum for open discussion. The Public Safety Dispatchers and Records Personnel participated in customer service scenarios and surveys. The class also utilized lessons that have been learned from other agencies.

The Oxnard Police Department is dedicated to enhancing the interaction that every citizen has when they call 911, a business line or walk into our lobby. This training was a reminder to our personnel to treat everyone as if it was their own family member, to remember that there is always more to the story and to recognize that everyone is an individual with specialized needs.