Community members were able to meet and greet various public safety units
By Samantha Bravo
Of The Malibu Times
The Malibu/Lost Hills Sheriff’s Station held its annual Open House over the weekend, giving community members anopportunity to meet their local law enforcement officers, discuss public safety issues, and get a tour of the sheriff’s department.
Brian Knott of the Malibu/Lost Hills Sheriffs community relations team said the annual event is held for the community to meet the different vendors.
“We have everyone from the CERT team, we invite the fire department, we have the water district, we have different vendors,” Knott said. “It’s a family event, to have the family come out.”
Knott estimated 500 people in attendance.
“Each year it gets bigger and bigger, and each year we try to do better and better,” Knott said.
Commander Mark Reyes and Capt. Jennifer Seetoo were at the Open House meeting members of the community and families of the department.
“This is a great place to be today, I know a lot of people brought their family members, it’s great,” Reyes said.
Since the contract with California Highway Patrol, Reyes said, “Traffic and enforcement is their cup of tea; and when you see a CHP officer, it makes everyone slow down, so having those cars on PCH is a great idea; I believe they’re doing a great job, and they’re making a big impact.”
Reyes said Seetoo has been doing a great job as captain.
“Capt. Seetoo is loved in this community,” Reyes said. “She knows all the key players by their first name, so she’s doing a great job managing this station.”
For the Open House, Reyes said he heard the miniature horses and the SWAT team were a big success.
“It’s amazing to see how many jobs we have here,” he said. “We’re hiring, and a lot of young kids don’t realize all the opportunities in the Sheriff’s Department that we have.”
The event included equipment and booths from Malibu Search and Rescue, Volunteers on Patrol, the K-9 Unit, Sheriff’s Mounted Posse (horse patrols), Mini Therapy Horses, as well as horse rescue equipment, a Sheriff’s Department helicopter, and jail tours.
Malibu Volunteers on Patrol (VOP) team leader Mark Russo said they answered questions about the sheriff’s and volunteer program.
“They’re not aware that not only do they have patrol like we do, but they have Arson Watch they have the disaster of communication, so they have a number of volunteer programs that they can do,” Russo said. “A lot of it is informational on what you can do and how you can volunteer for the station.”
The event was held the week after the Memorial Day weekend, and Russo said parking was an issue.
“Summer always brings the crowds for us, the beach was a little overcast, but we still saw a steady stream of people coming to the beach, the hiking trails we’re extremely busy so we were out there,” Russo said. “When people park illegally, a lot of time they’re creating an obstruction and road hazards, so we do the best to educate and enforce, but it was busy, we had a lot of people in Malibu, but nothing major that went on.”
The station is located at 27050 Agoura Road in Agoura. For more information, call the station at (818) 878-1808.
