More police officers coming to Lompoc Police Department

It’s no secret that crime has been on the upswing lately in Lompoc.

“We have had an increase in theft in our community, property crimes, shoplifting, those kind of things,” Sgt. Kevin Martin of the Lompoc Police Department.

According to Chief Pat Walsh, theft has become so commonplace, many residents and businesses that are victims do not even report it to police.

The uptick in crime can be attributed to several reasons, including a short staffed police department.

Since Walsh came aboard more than three years ago, he said the staff has been significantly shorthanded.

Last year, he said the department was down 14 officers, which included vacancies and officers out with injuries.

“When you’re down 14, it’s pretty meaningful,” Walsh said. “I had to strip traffic unit, narcotics unit, gang unit, and two of my four detectives to push them into patrol to cover the shifts.”

A reduced staff has put addition stress and demands onto the officers who remain on duty.

“It’s hard to run this shop without full staff, it really is,” said Walsh. “We’ve done it, but the further we go down, the more injuries we have and then the more burnout and the more officers look for other places to work.”

Fortunately, Walsh is pleased to report that reinforcements are coming to Lompoc in the near future.

Four new officers are about to finish training and will patrol the streets on their own in about a month.

“That will allow me to take four veteran officers and put them into assignments that I think the community will notice a difference because they’ll be out there proactively addressing problems,” Walsh said.

When the new officers are fully on board, Walsh will create a new street crimes unit and a full-time homeless liaison.

“What that will allow me to do is to carve out one police officer to work with homeless issues and three to do proactive problem solving. Drug dealers, gang members, shoplifting,” Walsh said.

Walsh believes the new positions will allow the department to become more proactive in stopping crime from happening in the first place. Right now, he said, the department is simply in a reactive state.

“When you’re really short on staff, you really end up becoming reactive and that’s not helpful because if you can stop crime before it occurs, then your crime rates are going to go down and people are going to feel safer,” Walsh said.

The police chief is also hoping to add new addition officers. However, the fate of those positions is beyond his control. City leaders will have to decide if there’s enough funding to hire more staff.

Walsh also hopes the community takes a more active role in being part of the solution. He wants people to report crimes as soon as they happen. Many times, he said, people do not.

“We’re here for them. They pay our salaries,” said Walsh. “People need to realize that we’re here for them. We have an app they can give us anonymous tips. They can 911. They can call our non-emergency line and we’ll respond.”

Both Walsh and Martin added that people sometimes use social media to publicly express concerns or problems they’re having in their neighborhoods. They’re hoping residents will contact them directly.

“We do not monitor social media,” said Martin. “We do not have the staff to monitor social media on the level the public would like us to, so you have to pick up the phone and you have to.”

Martin and Walsh both added they know there is a lot of community pride in Lompoc and together, everyone can make the city a better place.

“This is a great community,” said Martin “Great people living here. It’s no different from any other community, it has its social issues, but if the community gets involved to help effect these changes, it’s going to be better for everybody.”