Harbor Is Site for 3rd Police Storefront : Ventura: Staffed by volunteers, the satellite station will be open four days a week in an area frequented by tourists.

With a backdrop of colored balloons and free refreshments, Ventura officials opened their third police storefront Tuesday, a four-room office at Ventura Harbor.

The satellite police station, staffed by volunteers and open four days a week, is the latest effort in the department’s community-based policing, which seeks more involvement from merchants and citizens.

“We can’t do it alone,” Ventura Police Capt. Randy Adams told the almost 200 people at the ribbon-cutting ceremony. “We need the partnership of the community and our business leaders in every way we can.

“Storefronts are one way of doing that,” Adams said.

Opened with virtually no city money, the Ventura Harbor storefront is the third satellite station house to open since January, 1994. The department opened its first storefront in the Montalvo area early last year and another in the Ventura Avenue neighborhood last summer.

The fourth--and probably the final--Ventura police storefront will open downtown later this year, Adams said.

Although police storefronts are usually placed in high-crime areas, there have been relatively few incidents at the harbor, one of the busiest tourist spots in the city. Nonetheless, police and marina merchants say the storefront is welcome.

“We’re trying to get people to share responsibility,” said Officer Dave Wilson, who has patrolled the harbor exclusively since last summer and will work out of the new office.

“Crimes and problems the police respond to,” he said. “But we always ask the community to be our eyes and ears and call us when they hear things.”

The office, which will be open Friday through Monday, is at 1575 Spinnaker Drive.

Police officials on Tuesday credited the local business community with making the storefront a reality. The office was leased to the department by the Ventura Harbor Village under a two-year contract for $1 a year.

Chief Richard Thomas said community-based policing is a return to the beat-cop system, where officers know almost everyone in the neighborhoods they patrol and often settle disputes without making arrests.

“This is a giant step forward in that direction,” Thomas said.

Ventura Port District Commissioner Gary P. Jacobs said the presence of a police officer and the satellite station would deter crime in the harbor area.

“The addition of a police officer here on a regular basis . . . gives a feeling of security,” Jacobs said, “even though I don’t think anyone here felt there was a great problem.”

While the audience toured the new facility and ate refreshments provided by local restaurateurs, nearby merchants said they feel more secure knowing police are now just minutes away.

“It’s great,” said Dennis Romero, who owns Fayro’s Grill just across the patio from the storefront. “We haven’t had too many problems down here, but the marina’s getting a lot more popular.

“I like them right behind my store,” Romero said. “I know I won’t have any problems.”

Three years ago, while cashiering at the Windrose Gift Shop, Lorraine Berenty was robbed of $66 by three men.

“Since then, I feel that having a policeman here will be a deterrent,” she said. “If there is a problem, there will always be someone nearby. So that’s a great feeling to have.”