Full Notification

The Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office is pleased to report that there were no major incidents related to the unsanctioned Spring Break street party in Isla Vista known as Deltopia.  The crowd was estimated at the height of attendance in the afternoon at approximately 10,000 people and had dwindled down to approximately 500 people by 9:30 p.m.  The turnout is dramatically lower than the 20,000 to 25,000 people who attended last year and 15,000 to 18,000 people in 2013.  

The lower turnout can be attributed to many factors.  First and foremost, the Sheriff’s Office wants to thank the students in Isla Vista who made a conscientious effort not to invite out-of-towners to the event and who made a point not to open their doors to people they did not know.  We would also like to thank the University of California at Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara City College and the Isla Vista Safe coalition for its campaigns to encourage students to keep the event local.  UCSB also hosted student-only activities and provided more than 100 police officers from UC campuses throughout the state, which in addition to the large contingency of Sheriff’s Office deputies and officers from neighboring allied agencies provided an enhanced law enforcement presence.  Additional assistance was provided by the Santa Barbara, Lompoc, Santa Maria and Santa Monica Police Departments, Ventura County Sheriff’s Office, Santa Barbara and Ventura County Search and Rescue Teams, Santa Barbara County Probation, Santa Barbara County Fire Department, California Highway Patrol, Alcohol Beverage Control and several other allied agencies.  The Sheriff’s Office believes this presence is important to discourage party-goers from violating laws and stopping incidents before they reach a serious level. The festival ordinance which prohibited music after 6 p.m. and the restricted parking on the part of the City of Goleta, UCSB and the Sheriff’s Office were instrumental in limiting the crowd size.

While the attendance was much lower this year, the number of arrests and citations remained high due to the increased law enforcement presence. 

2015    (preliminary)                             2014

140  Citations                                       190 Citations

102  Arrests                                         130 Arrests

    9 Medical Transports                          50 Medical Transports

The Sheriff’s Office is grateful for all of the first responders who worked so hard to keep Isla Vista safe, and for the cooperation of the entire Isla Vista community.  

The attached photo is courtesy of Mike Eliason of the Santa Barbara County Fire Department