New prosecutor to help Thousand Oaks

Dep. District Attorney Bill Redmond, the new community prosecutor for Thousand Oaks, will do his best to keep Thousand Oaks one of the safest cities in the country.

In May, Redmond took the post that provides prosecutorial services directly to Thousand Oaks police, residents and businesses. Working out of the Thousand Oaks Police Station at 2101 E. Olsen Road, he spends most of his time studying the cases submitted to him by police officers to determine if the D.A.'s office is going to file criminal charges.

He files the vast majority of cases police bring to him—95 percent, he said. He's there for those officers as an in-house prosecutor. If Redmond doesn't find enough evidence to file criminal charges but thinks another witness statement or additional evidence will make it happen, he lets police know, he said.

"We have to hold criminals accountable, or they think they can get away with it," Redmond said.

The seasoned prosecutor is a great resource, Thousand Oaks Police Chief Dennis Carpenter said.

"It is absolutely helpful for detectives to bounce a set of circumstances off him. This is so beneficial to us," Carpenter said.

Redmond's done a little bit of everything, beginning as a juvenile probation officer for four years and a National Park Ranger for nine years.

After earning a degree from Ventura College of Law, he worked for the Ventura County district attorney's office in misdemeanors, major fraud, juvenile and narcotics units.

Later, for about eight years, he supervised the general felony unit that includes units specializing in gangs, narcotics, auto theft and three strikes along with street felonies such as burglary, robbery, assault and forgery/fraud. He was also interim chief deputy district attorney and oversaw the major crimes/ homicide and general felony unit. He's also worked for the sexual assault prosecution division.

Redmond uses his experience as a prosecutor as he reviews and files misdemeanor complaints. He also keeps up with changes in case law so he can give law enforcement accurate, up-to-date information, he said.

He reviews about 225 misdemeanor complaints and 30 felonies monthly, he said, and is involved in briefings, law enforcement training and community outreach.

As an in-house prosecutor Redmond is familiar with the unique concerns of various neighborhoods and businesses and is able to provide special attention and consideration to problems arising in those areas, he said.

Thousand Oaks has budgeted $110,000 toward paying for the community prosecutor and anticipates a cost of $109,951 this year.