Race
is another issue in Isla Vista that seldom is handled in a manner
satisfactory to minorities. About a year ago, someone broke
into a black person's apartment, stole his computer and other
items, and spray-painted racial slurs on the walls. This was
reported by the Foot Patrol as simply a theft.
A few months ago, a black woman was hit by a large rock thrown
by a fraternity member as she worked in the street near the
fraternity house. The police never uncovered the identity of
the person throwing the rock because they permitted the fraternity
brothers to hide him in the house. A follow up investigation
by the Greek Peer Review Board got buried in UCSB Vice-Chancellor
Birch's office.
One long-term resident remembers when the Foot Patrol officers
would spend a day each year in a retreat with community leaders
at the University's Cliff House on West Campus.
"These were great opportunities both for us to get to know
the police better, but for them to get to know us, too. I'm
sorry that this kind of interaction has been dropped,"
he said.
There is, however, strong support for the Foot Patrol from many
I.V. residents and business owners. Verne Johnson, owner of
the Isla Vista Market, enthusiastically supports them. "I.V.
would be 100 times worse a place without them," he said.
"I think that they're great."
One young mother who asked not to be identified said that, "They
have always been very helpful and very concerned when we've
had any problems."
In 1976, the Isla Vista Community Council invented an award
called "The Turkey of the Month" in order to call
attention to one Foot Patrol officer who most people thought
spent too much time harassing residents. This prestigious award
was given to UCSB Officer Al Phillips for having made so many
marijuana arrests. Even into the early 1980s, one member of
the Foot Patrol said that he thought Phillips made far more
than one-half of all the arrests for small amounts of marijuana
possession in the entire county.
The other members of the Foot Patrol must have had some empathy
with what Isla Vista Community Council (IVCC) was trying to
say with its tongue-in-cheek award, because they framed the
certificate and kept it hung on the wall at the Foot Patrol
Office for several years.
Beginning in 1972, the Foot Patrol reported at least once a
month to public meetings of the IVCC, relating crime stats for
that period and discussing any event or policing policy within
legal limits. With the phase out of the IVCC in 1987, this regular
reporting to the community no longer occurs.
However, Sgt. James Drinkwater and Lt. Joe Smith, both of the
Sheriff's Department, often attend the monthly meetings of the
Isla Vista Federation and the UCSB Major Events Committee. Both
are good opportunities for interaction, but in a more limited
fashion.
Drinkwater reported recently at a Federation meeting that he
and his staff were stepping up their ticketing of illegally
parked cars. One community member suggested that the police
should warn the community of such a change in policy, because
most people have grown used to the lax enforcement. "It
would be better to start out with an education campaign in the
fall, and begin a strong ticketing plan right away, rather than
waiting until after Christmas," he said.
While the officers reacted somewhat defensively at the meeting
("People complain both when we do it and when we don't!"),
it appears that the stronger enforcement plan has at least leveled
off.
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