Malibu Lost Hills Sheriff’s Capt. Tom Martin says the county does not have enough money to fund a Sheriff’s station in Malibu. He says a private/public partnership is needed to make a station a reality.
By Jonathan Friedman / Assistant Editor
Malibu-Lost Hills Sheriff’s Capt. Tom Martin says it is a dream of his and of Sheriff Lee Baca for a Sheriff’s station to open in Malibu. But, he said, fulfilling that dream will be a major uphill battle.
Martin addressed a Malibu Chamber of Commerce audience last Wednesday at Guido’s restaurant and said getting the money to open a Malibu station would require a public/private partnership.
Malibu has been without a community station since the regional station was moved from this city to Agoura with the opening of the Malibu-Lost Hills Station in 1991. Martin said there are several reasons why a full-scale station should return to Malibu, including that it would be closer for deputies to respond to calls and for people to come to file reports and meet with officers.
“During the rain earlier this year it was difficult for Malibu residents to get out to Lost Hills,” Martin said. “If there were a station in Malibu, people wouldn’t have to make that long drive.”
The captain said bringing a Sheriff’s presence back to Malibu could range from a small office with a deputy working at a counter to a large community station. Malibu has functioned with the smaller version before. After the Lost Hills station opened, deputies still remained at the old Malibu station on Civic Center Way. The presence was further reduced later in the ’90s and the “Malibu station” became a one-man operation. That was discontinued in 2004, and there is now no Sheriff’s presence in Malibu outside of the officers on patrol.
But Martin said at last week’s lunch he would prefer a full-scale station to return to Malibu. That would include a 24-hour station with counter service, a detective, a traffic officer and at least 31 deputies. Martin said to operate a station like that would cost about $7.85 million per year, which would include a little more than $5 million that is already being spent at Malibu-Lost Hills for service here and other areas such as Topanga. But the shortfall would have to come from an undetermined source.
“It’s going to take a considerable private/public partnership for it to happen,” Martin said. “We don’t have enough money in the county to make that happen.”
Martin said in an interview this week that the public could help in a variety of ways, including somebody donating a building to house the station. He added the Malibu voters could decide to create a tax to fund the station or some other creative method.
Martin said it was important for the public to get involved for a Malibu station to become a reality.
Local resident Jeffrey Asfour has already hopped on the bandwagon. He has spent the last several months selling calendars that include his wife’s artwork, with the money raised going toward a fund for a Malibu Sheriff’s station. Mayor Andy Stern has also been supportive of the idea of a Malibu Sheriff’s station.