No Harbor Police the Day of Brutal Kind Grind Rape

On the cold, dark morning of March 19, 2008, a 24-year-old woman was brutally attacked and put in a freezer as she was opening the Kind Grind coffee shop in the Santa Cruz Small Craft Harbor. 

The attack was the worst crime in recent memory in the fishing and tourist spot, and it sent shock waves throughout the county.

It was solved three years later and was the focus of national attention as the Santa Cruz Police Department used a family member's DNA for only the second time in California to arrest and charge a suspect, 21-year-old machinist 

However, one fact wasn't reported until now: The entire eight-person Harbor Police Department, charged with maintaining the safety of a 90-acre area of 1,200 boat slips, five restaurants and about 40 business, was off duty for most of the week of the rape.

The officers were taking police training classes during the day, and no one was left behind to patrol the port overnight, according to records obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request. Harbor police patrolled only four hours a day, between 5 p.m.-9 p.m.

"That makes me so mad," said Kim Tribble, 26, who started working at the Kind Grind a few months after the rape. "No police there? You need to keep people safe. That's your job. I'm glad I wasn't working then."

Current Harbormaster Chuck Izenstark was apologetic as he opened the port's patrol records to a reporter as a result of a Freedom of Information Act request. It was a one-page handwritten paper that said the Harbor was patrolled only from 5-9 p.m. Monday and Tuesday. 

"This was a rare occasion, and after that we learned a lesson, so to speak," he said. "It was a logistical error."

The Harbor Police headquarters is within sight of the Kind Grind,  sharing the same the parking area.

Now, during training, the department makes sure that the Harbor is still staffed, said Izenstark. Officers on duty  can travel to other jurisdictions to take courses later.

"That's one of the things we learned," he said. "Now someone makes a sacrifice and takes the training somewhere else. You could say we made mistakes, and we learned from them. The Harbor is now patrolled 24 hours a day."

During the overnight hours the week of the rape, former Harbormaster Tim Morely was on call from his home. Normal procedures dictated that the Harbor's staff would notify Santa Cruz police that they weren't patrolling, but there is as yet no record of whether that was done.

Santa Cruz police were the first to respond to the emergency call at around 6:30 a.m. and took over the investigation, because they had more resources to put into investigating a complicated crime.

After the attack, things quickly changed. Harbor officers were put on patrol for their normal shifts, making sure the Harbor was covered day and night, and female employees could get escorts to their shops after dark or in the morning. Harbor police now routinely wait in the parking lot to make sure women get in safely.

Like the Beach Boardwalk and UC Santa Cruz, the Harbor has its own police force. Although it includes parts of Santa Cruz and Live Oak, the Harbor is a special district with its own supervisory board and administration.  

According to its budget, the Harbor Police Department planned to spend $14,000 for training in 2011, roughly 100 hours each year for its officers. Before starting work, they are required to complete a Police Officer Standards and Training course at Cabrillo College. They also take boating courses and must qualify their shooting skills regularly.

Izenstark said his staff was small and overworked, and he could greatly use at least two more officers, but the $100,000 in salary and benefits each was probably too expensive.

The district, one of only three port districts in the state, along with Ventura and Mendocino's Noyo, opened in 1964 and over the years shifted its revenue from taxes to fees from users, including an at-times brisk salmon fishing season. It was projected to take in about $6 million this year; however, it suffered some $4 million in damage from the March tsunami.