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July 23, 1992
THE HONORABLE CITY COUNCIL
Palo Alto, California
~~"'~I~ECiOF
11-1'. ,PORT
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COUNCIL PRIORITY
Police Assistance to Eest '410 Alto -st~t~s Report
Members of the Council:
Blpert ill Brief
In April 1992, tour P",lo Alto police offioers, together with
representat:ives trom Menlo Par): Police Depart.Juent and other
agencies, hegan a six-month pr-ogram t.o assist the East 2alo Alto
police Department in attempts to reduce the amount of violent crime
that had been '.x:curring in the community. This informational
report provides the present status of the program. Fo Council
actio~ is reguired~
Baekqroun d
On March 2. 1992. Council approved Palo Alto police assistance to
East Palo Alto. Four police officers were reassigned tor a six
lUO!lth pEriod to a special ~nforce:ment team based in E.ast Palo Idto.
Known as the REO Team (ReqiQnal Enforcement Detail), this 5pecial
group is comprised of officers trom Pa1Q Alto, East palo Alto,
Menlo Park, State Parole and the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco
and. Fire&rm.s ..
The P~O Team's formation occurred in the ~ake of a dramatic rise in
violent crimes in East palo Alto. Its purpose is the mitigation ~f
etreet crime through high visibility, the arrest of narcotics
dealers and ~~e return of tne most crime-rid~en areas of the city
to so~e &emtlance of safety. This report briefly synopsizes RED
Team activity for its first 38 operational days between April 15
and ~une 30, 1992 (four days per ~eek, ~O hours per day) ..
Imp,a of lo.ctiviU
Appendix A provides a statistical breakdown ot the RED Team's
activity to date. Operational efficacy is difficult to assess by
5tatistics alone, since citizen perceptions of security and
neighborhood 5afety are of ~ignificant importance~ At the
direction of the East Palo Alto Police Chief, the RED Team has
tarqeted certain high crime districts including the University
Circle, Manhattan, O'Keefe, O'Connor and Woodland areas.
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The regional approach is predicate.d on tt~e bel ief that criMinal
e:ctlvity in East Palo Alto has consequences for all neiqhborinq
juri&dict.i~ns. To date, the RED TeaDl hae made arcests ot suspects
responsible fa'!" significant crime in Mountain Vieli, Palo Alto,
Menlo pa.rk, and Redwood city. among others. Th.e follow-ing two
brief examples inQicate how crime and criminals in East P~lo Alto
impact adjacent communities.
The City of Mountain Vie.. exper ience.i a bank robbery
during which two armed suspects escaped W'ith a quantity
of cash. During the escape they seized a taxi driver,
robbed him at gunpoint and stole his cab. Mountain View
detectives sent artists' descriptions of the suspects to
the RED Team~ Within clays, the Team captured one suspect
in East Palo Alto, obtained a confession, and identified
the second suspect, who ~as later also arrested.
In another situation, the RED Team, posing as illegal gun
dealers, arrested a promin€nt narcotics de-aler on parole,
'Who was planning' a re.venge murder: he was also attempting
to purchase two m.achine guns. 'l'he arrest netted the
suspect four yeaI"S in prison and clearly prevented one or
more homicides.
COWB&Dta/Qb •• ryations
RED Tea. productivity bas been outstanding thus ~ar, but East Palo
Alto's crime problems are far from being r-esolved. The incidents
of homicide and other maj or cri'~e are still increasirlq ~ The East
Palo Alto police Department continues to work with limitecl
personnel. While some progress has beE'n made to increase their
staff, recruitment and retention of qualified officers continue to
be a problem~
The recent ~ithdrawal of the San Mateo County Sheriff's Department
from it.s support role in East Pdlo Alto (six deputies had been
assigned there) will put increased pressure on both the East Palo
Alto Police and the RED Team. The six sheriff's aeputies acted as
r~qular patrol officers: responding to calls fvr service. Their
absence will dramatically increase the workload on remaining
personnel and could thereby diminish opportunities for the RED
Teall!' s proactive I:!:nforce1rlent. Additionally. Palo Alt" officers are
~ore frequl:!:ntly responding to ccver East Palo Alto officers on in
progress c.alls.
C9!lclu.iop
As one condition of funding the RED ~ea~. East Palo Alto agreed to
prepare a ionq-range (five year) public safety plan. The plan is
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to be adopted by the East Palo Alto City council and, alonq with a
final report on REO Team activities, will form the basis for any
tuture Palo Alto ~ity Council action. Statf will endeavor to have
the five-year plan and the tinal RED Team evaluation sc~edule for
Council review prior to expiration of RED TeAm fir.ancinq
authorization.
Respectfully
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/ ,.<' 7'" I L. /.!. I·
'!'OM I!ERSON
Police Captai
submitted,
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cc Allen J. Parker, City Manager, East Palo Alto
John Maltbie, County Executive, San Mateo County
Jan Dolan, City Manager, Menlo Park
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Activity
ARRESTS BY TYPE;
Felony na~cotics poss~ss!on
Possession tor sa19
Sales of narcotics
possession tor sale (Marijuana)
Narcotics paraphernalia
Under the influence of drugs
Other felony arrests
Felony warrants
Misdemeanor arrests
Misdemeanor warrants
Parole violations/parolee at large
probation violations
Parole hold ("Ii/other charge)
TOTAL ARRESTED
ARRESTS BY AGE
Under 18
18-21
22 .. 35
OVer 35
ARRESTS BY SUSPECT RESIDENCE
East Palo Al to
Redwood City
Menlo Park
SAn Jose
Palo Alto
Mountain View
Hayward
Sunnyvale
Other cities
STOLEN VEHICLE RECOVERIES
FIELD INTERVIEWS
WEAPCNS SEIZED
Rifles/shotguns
Handguns
Dirlc/daqq"r
SEARCH wARRANTS CONDUCTED
ASSETS SEIZED -Cash
NARCOTICS/DRUG SEIZL~S
62.35
285.15
13.8
grams
grams
grams
Crack cocaine
PO'"w"de r Coca ine
Tar Heroin
Marijuana 5055.99 grams
j/ To Dat~
42
20
7
6
11
2
15
9
16
11
32
3
(14)
174
10
20
95
49
108
11
11
7
5
6
3
4
19
6
248
12
13
5
9
$5,817