Chief's Community Update - February 4, 2024

Please join me in welcoming our newest Police Recruit Cesar Flores-Garcia.  Cesar grew up in Salinas, CA and attended North Salinas High School where he played football, wrestled, and was on the golf team.  Cesar comes to us with a Bachelor of Science Degree in justice studies from San Jose State University.  Cesar was drawn to a career in law enforcement by his uncle, who is a Parole Agent.  Cesar is scheduled to begin the police academy the end of this month with fellow Recruit Guadalupe Juarez.

We just launched our new recruitment for paid Reserve Police Officers.  Reserve Police Officers would primarily be used to provide high visibility patrols in our parks and the secluded trails along the bay in addition to patrol support if needed.  This position is difficult to recruit for, so we really need our community's help.  

We are hiring!  

Do you know someone who is genuinely a good person, has a passion for serving others, and would be a great fit for our department and community please bring them in.  We are hiring for:

Police Recruit

Police Officer

Police Reserve Officer

Our open recruitments can be found at https://www.calopps.org/city-of-east-palo-alto.

Notable arrest:

On January 29, Officer Cerezo conducted a traffic stop on Addison near Garden.  The rear passenger attempted to walk away from the traffic stop, but stopped when ordered to stay in the car.  The driver drove the car a short distance away, but came to a stop after no more than 30 feet.  When additional Officers arrived, both the passenger and driver were detained.  A records check revealed the passenger had a warrant for his arrest.  After he was arrested for the outstanding warrant, the passenger was found in possesion of a loaded semi-automatic handgun and a baggie containing cocaine base.  The passenger was booked into the county jail.   

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