Chief's Community Update - July 2, 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
Fireworks survey
I would like to thank Antoine Brooks, who spent much of his personal time coordinating our three Chief’s Community Forums and facilitating the online fireworks survey. Although we are a little dismayed at the lower than desired attendance and survey participation, we know this is a starting point. I am determined to create a forum where we can discuss public safety, quality of life concerns, new ideas, and any other topic for that matter. I’m open to suggestions to increase attendance (jliu@cityofepa.org).
The 49 respondents to the fireworks survey, were relatively equally distributed through our city.
The overwhelming majority of the respondents were most concerned about the hours of detonation for reasons such as early work schedules, small children, pets, and Post Traumatic Stress.
The top suggested solutions to the fireworks issue were:
- Offering a safe place to detonate fireworks
- Holding a 4th of July community event
- Zero tolerance enforcement
- Bring back the fireworks task force
Those who participated in our community forums discussed the root of the fireworks issue and believed we need to change the culture surrounding fireworks in our city by communicating with our neighbors and having conversations to discuss the harm that fireworks cause. The groups understood that merely issuing firework citations will not solve our fireworks problem. People who possess and ignite fireworks understand they are illegal, but do they understand the impact it has on their neighbors? We need people with fireworks to care about their neighbors and stop the activity for because they care, not because fireworks are illegal.
On July 4, we will have extra personnel on duty to patrol for fireworks activities. We will be patrolling our community and responding to as much fireworks activity as possible. When calling in fireworks activity, we need you to provide as much specific information as possible to aid our efforts.
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
