Saratoga Public Safety Initiative

September 7, 2016

Public Safety Initiative Background• Property crime rate has increased since Proposition 47 was passed

• The Saratoga City Council will move forward with a community action Plan to buck this trend in Saratoga

• The Traffic Safety Commission was recognized and appointed by the City Council to prepare a proposal for this Plan

• The Saratoga City Manager will own the Plan once approved by the Saratoga City Council

• The primary objective of the Plan is to provide Saratoga residents with the education and tools to assist law enforcement in deterring property crime thereby maintaining the identity that drew us to Saratoga

• Inputs to Plan were collected from Saratoga citizens, our Sheriff’s department, Sunnyvale Police and San Francisco Police departments

Public Safety Plan Agenda

• Charter, Goals and Scope

• Community Action Plan

• City and Sheriff’s Resources

• Measuring Results

Charter, Goals and ScopeCharter

• Provide a cohesive effort across our city leaders, sheriff’s department and Citizens to demonstrate exceptional public safety practices to reduce property crime

Goals

• Maintain and improve public safety within our community

• Prioritize current public safety issues in Saratoga and develop execution strategies to address them

• Develop and communicate best safety practices for our community

Scope

• The Traffic Safety Commission will present an execution plan to City Manager and City Council by Sept 2016

Community Concerns

• What are the police doing to keep our neighborhoods safe?

• When can we see a Plan from the city?

• What can we do to keep our neighborhoods safe?

• Is the social media accurately representing the situation?

Our Current Situation Saratoga Citizens

• Hold long spans when not at residence

• Expects police to eliminate crime

• Questions city officials commitment to resolve the problem

• Wants effective tools to improve home safety

Sheriff's Department

• Wants to be a lock-step partner with Citizens to address crime

• Can’t be everywhere all the time

• Needs Citizens to communicate, “See Something Say Something”

City Leadership

• Communicating to Citizens through media outreach

• Wants to address problem head-on with proactive and sustainable plan

Community Partnership for Safety

SaratogaCitizens

Sheriff’sOffice

City Leadership

A Plan that Builds Upon Itself Citizen Needs

• Safe Home Education and Resources

Neighborhood Needs• Support from Sheriff’s department

• Support from the City Leadership

• Familiarity with their neighbors

Saratoga Needs• Full community participation

• House by House

• Neighborhood by Neighborhood

• Citizens, Sheriff’s Department and City Leadership Working Together

Citizen

Neighborhood

Saratoga

Stakeholder Resourcing

Traffic Safety Commission

• Develops Plan that can be scaled beyond 2016

Sheriff’s Department

• Prioritizes safety concerns and identifies Best Practices to mitigate such concerns, continues community outreach

City Council

• Approves Plan and facilitates public outreach forums

City Manager

• Owns, resources and executes the Plan

Citizens

• Actively participates in Plan as an integral part of the solution

Household Defensive Actions Home Defense

• Lock doors, gates, windows • Enable Sensor lights and security systems • Deploy camera network • Lock side gates • Turn on light timers, inside and out• Consider a dog- best security according to police survey• Notify police vacation patrol (408) 299-3233

Delivery Theft Defense• Schedule deliveries when at home (or route to alternative location) • Locked mailbox (RFQ to share cost box and installation with City)

Auto break-in Defense• Keep valuables out of sight• Doors locked, windows closed

“ See Something Say Something”

A Refrigerator Magnet in Every Home

• Empowers the homeowner

• Reduces situational confusion

• “See Something, Say Something”

• Builds household solidarity for thenext level of security:

The Neighborhood

Neighborhood Watch Program City Commitment

• Resources and administrates Program

• Allocates support from Sheriff’s department

• Funds Neighborhood Watch grant program (e.g. $/$ match)

• Sponsors annual Neighborhood Watch celebration & promotional event

Sheriff’s Commitment • Supports neighborhood visits and discussions

• Trains Neighborhood Watch Regions

Neighborhood Commitment • Look out for each other, an opportunity

to know our neighbors

• Signage: Puts incoming criminals on notice

• “See Something Say Something”

City Outreach to the Community

“See Something Say Something” Campaign reinforces household safety best practices and Neighborhood Watch

• Saratoga City website

• Facebook, Twitter

• Nextdoor

• Saratogan

• Saratoga News Feature Article with the Sheriff

City Leadership- Community Outreach

• Ambassadors Program: City Council, Commissioners, Sheriffs department, City staff, Chamber of Commerce, AYSO, CYSA, Scouts, Seniors

• Forum Coordination: HOAs, Churches, CERT (Fire), Realtors, Senior Center, Lions, Rotary, Schools

• Merchandising: Refrigerator Magnet (numbered for prize incentives- “ride along”), Postcard, Posters

• National Night Out: Community education and celebration event. Neighborhood Watch promotion and recruitment

• Plan Deployment Status: Share updates and results at annual City Forum

Measuring Results

4Q16

• Plan acceptance by City Council

• City manager resources and initiates Plan

• City outreach programs engaged

• Assign resources to manage Neighborhood Watch programs

2Q17- June

• Review sheriff’s safety metrics/data (resident calls, break-ins)

• Assess effectiveness of Plan with stakeholders

• Increase Neighborhood Watch Regions (target 60% growth)

SaratogaCitizens

Sheriff’sOffice

City Leadership