Santa Barbara is a crown jewel in the California coast line, toting beautiful white sand beaches and a mountainous backdrop that challenges any European Riviera. We offer some of the highest quality dining experiences, and have an expansive variety of both breweries and wineries to choose from. However, our downtown is facing a crisis that should never exist in the first place. Where are our Police officers?

A City Concerned

Downtown Santa Barbara, particularly our State Street Promenade, sees little to no police patrols. As a result of our lack of police presence, certain bad actors feel emboldened and nearly invincible when it comes down to facing ramifications for their actions. Mental health, homelessness, drug abuse, and unmonitored children on electric bicycles are at the root of our problems. In my own experience, we have a specific transient individual set up across from our bike shop who routinely causes trouble, as well as rampant groups of children violating all applicable bike laws. All on one block of State Street.

Bad Actors

On the 600 block of State Street, just outside of World Market, an illegal vendor has routinely set up a stand selling art. This person has been the cause of constant complaints by business owners, and residents with no action taken. We have personally watched him get into 3 different fights, either defending himself from other transient individuals or attacking them. We have witnessed this man throw another individual into one of the water fountains on State Street, all while blasting inappropriate music full of vulgar content and swear words. Yet, no matter how many police reports are made, or how many times they come and interact with him, no action is taken. This has only further emboldened the illegal vendor, so much so he is blatantly spray painting in the middle of the day with no recourse.

Our bad actors don’t stop there, but rather they are just getting started. Santa Barbara is overrun with children on modified electric bicycles that can reach speeds of over 50 miles per hour. These children ride in large groups, conducting unsafe riding practices like doing wheelies into large crowds, aiming their bikes at pedestrians until the last second, blocking the entire bike path, and being a general disturbance. You can find large groups of them on the 600 and 700 blocks of State Street, creating an unsafe cycling atmosphere for all Santa Barbara riders. The bikes these children ride break several California laws regarding speed controls, and without proper supervision children are hurting themselves as well as others with no recourse for their action. Last summer I witnessed a child doinga wheelie down State Street, he unfortunately made a mistake that resulted in his leaving in an ambulance.

The problems we face as a city continue from here, with uncontrolled mental health cases and a lack of support we constantly see disruptive behaviors on State Street. Previously, our city had implemented a new facility that was truly making a difference in Santa Barbara called the FARO Center. This center was treating roughly 150 members of our transient population and was capable of offering them immediate help. However, we have essentially lost this center as city administrators converted it to appointment based only and the number of treated individuals fell dramatically. The city of Santa Barbara is turning its back on these individuals and has chosen not to help them, which in turn effects all residents on State Street.

This lack of a sense of safety has driven residents away from what was once a bustling downtown. Now State Street sits and waits for the tourists to come back during the summer time, creating a very painful business atmosphere.

How Do We Fix This?

Now that we have some sense of the problem, what is our solution? How can we revitalize our town? How do we create a fun family friendly environment where people feel safe? The Answer? Upon speaking with several downtown business owners and residents, the overall agreement is that community policing and reopening the FARO Center to walk in appointments would be a great start.

Does community policing really work? According to Consortia Academia, “The data demonstrates a strong agreement (SA) among different measures on the visibility of police and its perceived impact on community safety. This is further supported by corroborative studies, highlighting a favorable correlation between visible policing and improved public perceptions of security. The agreement between PNP
patrol officers and neighborhood citizens is that greater police presence enhances feelings of safety and discourages criminal activity. Cultivating a safeguarded atmosphere for people and businesses demonstrates a mutual conviction in the efficacy of visible policing tactics.” (Breva, 2024)

The long and short of it, community policing and regular patrols is statistically proven to make communities safer and more vibrant as a result and that is what Santa Barbara needs. A reopened FARO Center will further develop downtown Santa Barbara, as it provides a much needed tool for our police officers in handling cases of mental health without stressing city resources. The FARO Center in conjunction with regular policing, may be the answer we need.

References

Breva, A. V. (2024, October 20). Police visibility and public perceptions towards an enhanced policy on police patrol . Consortia Academia. https://consortiacademia.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/v13i18/24140_final.pdf