Chief's Community Update - April 2, 2023

East Palo Alto Police Department star

Thank you for visiting our website and taking a moment to read this community update.

 

On Monday April 3, 2023, our Police Department is launching our new and improved Online Reporting platform.  After months of extensive preparation and testing, our internal work group has the new platform ready to launch.  The link will be prominently displayed on our Police Department web page.  Thank you to everyone who worked on the project.

 

I would like to take a moment to thank everyone who participated in our Community Survey.  Although I wish we had more respondents, we did succeed in generating some input.  Community members who responded to the survey requested more ticketing, towing, and street sweeping enforcement, more speeding/reckless driving enforcement, and listed fireworks as an overwhelming concern. 

 

On Saturday April 8, join Robert Jones and East Palo Alto's Community Emergency Response  Team (CERT), rEPAct, for an introduction to Emergency Response. 

 

RED CROSS READY

The Red Cross Ready Program is a 60-minute all-hazards preparedness program, designed to provide the community with basic response actions for the following disasters (Earthquake, Flood, Wildland Fires, HazMat, etc.). Participants learn how to build a disaster kit, plan, and stay connected during a disaster. Michael Taylor from Menlo Park Fire District will lead the training. 

 

Date: April 8, 2023

Place: Faith Missionary Baptist Church

835 Runnymede Street

East Palo Alto, CA

 

Time: 10:30am – 11:45 am

 

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