Police, rangers increase presence around Santa Maria Town Center to deter crime
Santa Maria CA March 12, 2022 Santa Maria residents near the Town Center and the larger downtown area can expect to see an increased law enforcement presence as the city steps up efforts to deter criminal activity.
A principal area of focus is the Town Center East parking structure, which, unlike the mall building itself, is owned and managed by the city. Earlier this month, 17-year-old Alexis Mendoza Raymundo was killed and another individual was injured in a shooting on the second floor of the three-story parking structure.
The recent homicide has spurred discussions among city officials about security at the Town Center, leading city rangers with the Recreation and Parks Department to increase their patrols of the structure in hopes of better addressing the issue of residents gathering there after mall closing hours.
“This is not entirely due to the recent homicide. The focus is to deter people and vehicles from congregating at the parking structure when it is closed every night,” said city spokesman Mark van de Kamp.
While the mall itself closes at 8 p.m. Monday to Saturday and 6 p.m. Sunday, the parking structure is harder to close due to its easy access points. City rangers, whose shifts near the Town Center previously ended around 10 p.m., and police personnel are both doing “added night patrols” to prevent congregating of both vehicles and individuals, van de Kamp said.
Besides the rarer violent instances like the recent shooting, Santa Maria Police Sgt. Jesus Valle said the department is also hoping to prevent more common crimes like car break-ins and property crimes that can result when people are allowed to access the structure.
“Sometimes we have groups of pedestrians that use the area to drink and congregate; sometimes we have groups in vehicles. It varies,” Valle said. “The idea is to provide a high-visibility patrol to deter criminal activity in general.”
He added that patrols will likely increase with the resurgence of Downtown Fridays in early April, when the number of residents gathered downtown skyrockets each week.
“As it gets closer to spring, we’ll probably see more patrols in the area for high-visibility presence and to engage with the community,” Valle said.
Santa Maria Police are still investigating the killing of Raymundo, and no arrests have been announced in the case.
