Chief's Community Update - April 14, 2024

In the early morning hours of April 8, 2024 our community suffered our second murder of 2024 on Newell Road near West Bayshore Road.  Our first murder occurred in February when Frank Finney was murdered on the 500 block of Bell Street. 

Our investigators are working diligently to solve both murders, but we need our community's help to solve both crimes.  Mothers Against Murder generously offered rewards for information in both cases.  Please click on the links below for more details and please contact us with information.

Press Release - February 4, 2024 stabbing victim succumbs to his injuries - COMMUNITY ASSISTANCE NEEDED | City of East Palo Alto (cityofepa.org)

(Press Release - Murder Investigation April 2024 | City of East Palo Alto (cityofepa.org).  

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