It’s Fiesta time again, and the Santa Barbara Police Department is once again making the final preparations for the staffing of Fiesta.
As is customary, the Santa Barbara Police Department will be assisted by several outside agencies. Request for assistance has been asked of the following agencies: the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department, the Santa Barbara County Probation Department (adult and juvenile), UCSB police, state parole, the California Youth Authority, the Santa Maria Police Department, the Lompoc Police Department, the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department, the Ventura County Probation Department, the Oxnard Police Department, the Ventura Police Department, the Santa Paula Police Department, the Simi Valley Police Department and Alcohol Beverage Control.
On average, 126 Santa Barbara police officers, 25 Santa Barbara County sheriff’s deputies, 20 Santa Barbara County custody officers and allied agencies are on-duty during Fiesta.
These officers are used to cover a variety of Fiesta events. The events include but are no limited to: Fiesta Pequena, Fiesta Parade, Children’s Parade, Mercado Del Norte (McKenzie Park), Sunken Gardens, De La Guerra Plaza, Guadalupe Church and downtown.
Besides the Fiesta scheduled events, assigned patrol personnel will handle six patrol beats responding to normal calls for service outside of Fiesta events.
Lorenzo Duarte is a sergeant with the Santa Barbara Police Department.