Chief's Community Update - July 16, 2023
Thank you for visiting our website and taking a moment to read this community update.
Wanted
We are asking for your help to locate Juan Tapiz Ortiz, a 46-year-old East Palo Alto resident, who is wanted for entering a home and committing a sexual assault on June 3, 2023. Please use the below link to access additional information.
ci.east-palo-alto.ca.us/police/page/wanted-sexual-assault
Parking Enforcement
Parking along rolled curbs has been a subject of discussion spanning several years. In our Gardens neighborhood, rolled curbs are especially prevalent. Many cars parking along the curb, park on the sidewalk for various reasons. Our City Engineers recently published information on our City website, educating everyone of the proper and legal way to park along rolled curbs.
We, our community, need to park properly along rolled curbs in our city. Our Police Department will spend some time on an education campaign to gain voluntary compliance from people parking along these curbs. After the education campaign, we will start enforcement efforts with parking citations. Ideally, we will not have to issue any parking citations because all vehicles will be parked legally.
National Night Out
On Tuesday August 1, between 6-8 PM, we are sponsoring 13 block parties in our community. National Night Out is a great annual event where neighbors get out and get to know each other and get to know their patrol officers.
We will advertise the list of block parties with addresses in the coming weeks.
I would like to thank Records Supervisor Vickie Porter for coordinating every one of our annual events for the last 20+ years. Sadly, this year will be Vickie’s last National Night Out before her retirement.
Anonymous tips and immediate service
We appreciate all the anonymous tips we have been receiving. It is important to note that anonymous tips are not a resource for immediate police response as it is not monitored 24/7. For immediate police response, either call 9-1-1 or our non-emergency phone number 650-321-1112. For complaints related to property violations, please contact Code Enforcement department, which operates under our building department (https://www.cityofepa.org/building/page/code-enforcement).
When providing information to the police, we need specific information about the crime or criminal. As an example, if you are reporting someone for dealing drugs, we need to know:
- where and when they are selling the drugs
- a detailed description of them (white female, blue jeans, red jacket, baseball cap)
- any description of a vehicle
- any other information you have about the crime.
While we don’t expect you to jeopardize your safety to get this information, it is very important information if we make an arrest. Not only will your tip provide us with accurate information about the suspect, but we are also able to serve as a witness to the crime and we can testify in court. Please use these options for providing an anonymous tip.
You can make an anonymous tip to the police by calling or texting to (650) 409-6792.
If there is a topic you would like addressed in the next update, please feel free to send an email at jliu@cityofepa.org.
Thank you,
Jeff Liu
Chief of Police
