Chief's Community Update - January 1, 2023
Happy New Year East Palo Alto community members. Thank you for visiting our website and taking a moment to read this community update.
New Year’s Eve:
New Year's Eve started with our scheduled additional personnel being called in to work roughly eight hours prior to their scheduled start time. Our department already had two off duty patrol teams scheduled to supplement our regular patrol staff starting at 6:00 PM, but due to the weather and deluge of water that caught the entire bay area off guard, they cancelled their time with their families and came in 8 hours early to respond to weather related calls and emergency response.
After the water flow in the creek was stabilized and the threat of further overbanking was eliminated, they all transitioned to their high visibility New Year’s Eve patrol duties, completing their regular scheduled shift around 2:00 AM.
At the end of the night, we had 7 Shotspotter activations with no injuries.
Storm Watch:
We are expecting more wet weather this coming week. Please check the City of East Palo Alto website for the latest information https://www.ci.east-palo-alto.ca.us/community-resources/page/storm-information-and-resources.
Personnel:
This week we hired Full Time Community Service Officer Jonathan Johnson and Police Recruit Emanuel Cerezo. Jonathan starts on January 23 with on the job training. Emanual is scheduled to graduate from the Police Academy on January 25, 2023.
Crime:
In 2022, we lost 5 community members to homicide. Due to the community members who aided in the investigations, the hard work by the members of the East Palo Alto Police Department, and our close partnership with the San Mateo County District Attorney’s Office and their dedicated and talented personnel, we were able to solve all 5 homicides in 2022 for an unprecedented 100% clearance rate.
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
Interim Chief of Police
