SPPD Chief McLean: Dealing with gang activity a top priority

July 05, 2013
Santa Paula Police Department

Showing a strong presence in the community with a limited number of officers, dealing with heightened gang activity and working with parolees is much on the mind of Santa Paula’s new Police Chief Steve McLean, who wants to promote mentor programs and services while still fighting crime.

“I was told this morning I am number 22” of full-time sworn SPPD officers, said McLean, who plans to fill open slots as soon as possible to meet the allocation of 28 full-time crime fighters. For now, “We have to be better and smarter with less.” 

McLean said he has been involved in several youth mentor programs, ranging from those for scholars to those targeting at-risk kids. “I’m involved in all the churches, every Sunday I’m in some church,” not only to worship but also to forge relationships. “I’ve found often when you arrest someone you find their parents at the church” praying.

McLean said pastors are “leaders in the community,” and he has been involved with pastors in programs that stage regular job fairs for parolees that include services to help them return to society and a crime free life. Public safety, said McLean is, “not a police issue, it’s a community issue and everybody has to understand that everybody is a stakeholder... the more people understand that and partner, crime will go down.”

Being more proactive with gangs is also an issue: “There are a lot of bangers sitting in jail right now with bangers” who are caught in a revolving door of crime and incarceration. “I don’t tolerate gang members,” said McLean, “one active gang member in Santa Paula is too many, but at the same time I am very passionate about programs” for those willing to turn their lives around.

VIDA - Vital Intervention Directional Alternative - operated by his former employer the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department is highly effective. “Show me a gang member,” noted McLean, “and I’ll show you a family breakdown.”

A “dedicated gang team is at the top of the list... we need two gang experts, a dedicated gang team. We can’t be reactive, we have to be proactive” by not tolerating any law breaking by gang members, who must abide by restrictive enhancements added to parole and probation terms.  

He plans to continue partnerships with various sources, including the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department and the Probation Department on gang suppression.

“I’ll be out and about at night seeing if people are comfortable walking their dogs, seeing if the bangers are in the parks,” and McLean said he plans on more of a law enforcement presence on city streets. “We’re going to get great use from our Reserves,” including for foot and bicycle patrols as well as at the wheel of patrol cars cruising “crime areas... drive, just drive” in the neighborhoods to demonstrate a law enforcement presence.

McLean said when he gets settled into his South 10th Street office he will create a Community Advisory Board similar to the 12-member-group he had when he was the LASD Captain/Unit Commander in Altadena.

He plans on the force treating all people the same: “I don’t care if we’re dealing with a gang banger or a pastor, they have to be treated with respect, I insist on that... and if they don’t show respect back, well that would be stupid. I also have an obligation to advocate for the men and women doing a tough job.”  

And when it comes to dealing with McLean, “I feel an obligation that people can look me in the eyes and ask me anything.”

McLean noted his own challenging childhood is “why I gravitate to the underdog... I have a lot of compassion,” a quality he said is especially important in a struggling economy. “The last thing this community needs,” he noted, “is even one cop with an attitude.”





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