Looking for the Helpers: Oxnard police share stories of community outreach
As our area is faced with ongoing changes due to a growing pandemic, we are bringing stories of people doing good in the community during a time of uncertainty.
Help us look for the helpers!
Community Policing
We know that police officers have tough jobs, so we wanted to show you some of the calls that they respond to often… the ones that we don't hear about.
These stories were posted on the Oxnard Police Department's Facebook page.
Officers recently responded to a call of a suicidal man on the roof of a home. Officers started talking to him and after two hours of negotiating, they were able to talk him into coming down and getting help.These officers specialize in de-escalation tactics and were able to resolve this critical situation, peacefully.
The next example involves Sergeant Rocky Marquez who responded to two crisis calls back to back. The first was a parent who needed help with their child who was upset and walking in the middle of the road. You can see marquez on his knee talking with the kid.
Then about 90 minutes later, Marquez answered a second call for a man who was sitting naked on a parked car.
Officers talked to him and realized he was having a medical emergency. They made sure the scene was safe and got him the treatment he needed.
We talked to Oxnard police commander Luis McArthur about these situations and what it's like to be an officer right now.
"I just want the community to understand that we are really determined to help and I know that what we see nationally, we're appalled too at some of the things that have happened and when we see the misconduct of officers it hurts all of us and no one deserves to be mistreated and so we want the community to have faith that police officers truly are here to help and I hope that they will give us an opportunity to demonstrate our commitment to helping," McArthur said.
The Oxnard Police Department, including Chief Scott Whitney, are also continuing with community policing during the pandemic. Wearing masks and social distancing, officers are meeting, walking and talking with residents and trying to get to know them.
Chief Whitney says every time he walks in the community, he hears different concerns. This time, he says parents and students were concerned about the lack of internet access for distance learning.
Know of any other helpers making a difference during these trying times? Send Alys an email and let her know!
