SANTA MARIA, Calif. -- As part of the revamped community services unit, the Santa Maria police department assigned three officers and one sergeant to three separate beats of the city.
The main goal is to address long term issues that regular on-call officers don't have time to take care of.
"What we're trying to do is we are trying to have accountability," says Corporal Eligio Lara.
The area north of Alvin Avenue is "beat one". "Beat two" is the area within Alvin Avenue and Stowell Road and "beat three" includes the area south of Stowell.
"It also gives the community a person to reach out to when they need help.that way when they keep reaching out they don't reach a different officer and it starts everything all over," says Lara.
In the beat two area, Lara answered two calls; a domestic dispute and a transient passed out who needed medical attention, all within the hour
"They're very helpful they try their best to keep us safe," says Allan Hancock College student Amanda Houghton.
Houghton called 911. Patrol cars, an ambulance and the CSU unit answered the call.
"I feel safer now that I've seen everything that's going on right now I feel a lot safer. I know I can call them and they'll help," says Houghton.
And that's what Corporal Lara says is the best part of the job.
