$20,000 Gift Funds Mobile Police Center

Criminals in North Long Beach will soon face a new threat with Tuesday’s announcement that the city plans to purchase a second mobile police center.

During a brief ceremony at City Hall, Long Beach Police Department officials accepted a $20,000 check from regional insurance company representatives to convert another recreational vehicle into a command center on wheels.

A spokesman for Safeco Insurance Co., which with a group of area brokers and insurance agents provided the money, said the vehicles go a long way toward protecting inner-city neighborhoods against gang- and drug-related crimes.

Officer Bob Gonzales, designer of the department’s only mobile police center, agreed, saying the trend toward community policing is the main reason behind the need for the 30-foot-long converted recreational vehicle.

“We have found that the old ‘John Wayne’ type of police work can’t be done any more, as far as the police officer going out and cleaning up the problem,” said Gonzales, supervisor of community policing at the department’s East Division.

After reviewing a similar mobile command center used by sheriff’s deputies in Norwalk, Gonzales drew up plans for a trailer that could handle around-the-clock deployment almost anywhere in the city. His design allowed for police radio and computer operations, and even a fold-up ramp at the back of the vehicle for transporting bulky equipment.

Built last year for $23,000 with state and city funds, the mobile center was deployed in June. Gonzales said officers working from the center closed crack houses and tracked down murder suspects. Residents thankful for the police presence began walking up with cookies and sometimes gave tips on local gang activity, he added.

“When we park the trailer in front of the place we just infiltrate the entire neighborhood,” Gonzales said, adding that some deployments can last up to two weeks.

John Bretza, commander of the department’s North Division, where the new mobile unit will be assigned, said several community groups have already asked that the vehicle be sent to their neighborhood. Each neighborhood will probably get its turn, he said.

“The advantage of the community trailer is that it is mobile,” Bretza said.