Santa Cruz Fire Promotes Two Veteran Fire Captains

Battalion Chief Mike Ditano

Battalion Chief Jason Hajduk

Congratulations to veteran Santa Cruz Fire Captains Mike Ditano and Jason Hajduk for their recently announced promotions to battalion chief.  Chief Hajduk's promotion took effect on March 17^th and Chief Ditano’s promotion will take effect on May 7^th.   You can read more about their promotion in the Santa Cruz Sentinel by clicking here.  We wish them all the best in their new role as battalion chiefs with the Santa Cruz Fire Department.    

CNN To Air Story About SCPD's Predictive Policing

CNN, which ran a story a few months ago about our predictive policing program, will run an updated version of the story next week. CNN spent a day at our department learning about the program from Chief Vogel, Lt. Bernie Escalante, Deputy Chief Steve Clark and Crime Analyst Zach Friend. The program will air on CNN and Headline News (all times are PST):

CNN

Wed.    4/4        11A – 12P

Sat.      4/7        12P – 1P

Sun.     4/8        3P – 4P 

HLN

Wed.    4/4        11A – 12P

Citizen Police Academies to Begin!

The next session of the extremely popular Citizen Police Academies are about to begin next week. We offer one academy in English and one in Spanish. The classes are nearly full but a few slots remain. Classes provide an inside look at the department and offer participants an opportunity to learn about how police investigations work, what traffic unit does, demos from the K9 program and even driving a police car. It is a hands-on program taught by a number of people in the department. If you've never done a class like this it provides a look at your local police that most haven't seen. If you have an interest in signing up please contact Community Services at 420-5873

Chief Vogel Receives 25 Year Service Pin

Chief Kevin Vogel received his 25 year pin today from the City Council during their 3:00 session. The Mayor read a proclamation claiming March 27th as "Kevin Vogel Day" in the City of Santa Cruz. In addition, Chief Vogel's mother gave some historical context - turns out the Chief had wanted to be a police officer since he was a kid.  Chief Vogel has served in Investigations, Downtown, as a motorcycle officer and more during his 25-year tenure. Over the last year and a half as chief, Vogel has created the Chief's Advisory Committee, facilitated the partnership with private security downtown, instituted the award-winning predictive policing program and iPhone app and created the volunteer program. Join us in congratulating the chief!

PRIDE Program Graduation Tonight

The current class of the PRIDE Program graduates tonight. The nine-week program is designed to educate, mentor and guide troubled youth in the decision-making process.  Through guest speakers, trips and activities, participants focused on positive and negative impacts of decision making. This class they:

• Spent a media day at KION TV and KDON radio
• Toured UCSC for a science day
• Visited the Homeless Service Center
• Toured San Quentin and Alcatraz 
• Did a ropes course to develop trust with each other
• And more!

The PRIDE Program (Personally Responsible Individual Development in Ethics) is overseen by Sgt. Mike Harms and Officer Joe Hernandez of the department's Community Services Section.

Working in conjunction with Santa Cruz City Schools and the County Office of Education, the program is a multi-faceted approach to early gang prevention for local intermediate school-aged kids.

German TV News Visits SCPD

A German TV news program is spending the day today with Santa Cruz Police to cover the predictive policing program.  They learned about the program through US coverage that was rebroadcast in Germany. In addition to meeting with SCPD officers and officials, they are traveling to Los Angeles to meet with one of the professors that developed the algorithm. There has been significant international interest in implementing the model - as countries like Germany have faced cuts to programs and public safety similar to what we've seen here in California. When it is set for broadcast we will provide the link!

SCPD Honors Retired Deputy Chief Tom Marketello

Retired Deputy Chief of Police Tom Marketello

March 25, 1932 - January 29, 2012

The flags at the Santa Cruz Police Department and other City of Santa Cruz offices will be flown at half staff from Friday March 23^rd through Sunday March 25^th in honor of the memory of retired Santa Cruz Police Department Deputy Chief of Police Tom Marketello.  Deputy Chief Marketello was born in Oakland, CA on March 25^th, 1932 and passed away in Santa Cruz, CA on January 29^th, 2012.  He was 79 years old.

In August of 1954, Tom and his wife Peggy moved from the San Francisco Bay area to the Pleasure Point area of Santa Cruz where they spent time surfing, sunning on the beach and starting their family.  Following the flood of '55, two of Tom's old buddies called and encouraged Tom to come back up to the Bay Area to work with them. Tom and Peggy moved to a home in Albany, CA where their daughter Mari was born in 1957. Just before their son Mike was born two years later, they wanted to return to Santa Cruz to raise their children. Tom joined the Santa Cruz Police Department and they moved to Anthony Street on the westside of Santa Cruz. When they needed a 3-bedroom home, they moved to the eastside of Santa Cruz, where they have lived since 1969.  Joining the SCPD was an easy and likable transition for Tom.  While working in patrol, Tom met fellow SCPD Officer Richard Foerster, who became a long-time friend.

Tom enjoyed working patrol, even after being shot during a burglary at the Blue Chip store.  Eventually, Tom decided he wanted to join the Traffic Unit as a motor cop.  He enjoyed riding his motor around town meeting the townspeople, leading parades and riding in the beach area during the summers. He felt strongly about his duty to protect and maintain order.  Of the multitude of jobs Tom held in his life, riding a motor turned out to be his favorite. He became a Sergeant and then Lieutenant of Traffic Unit with a team of men he admired tremendously and maintained friendships with until his passing.  Over the years, some of those included the now deceased Frank Boze, Bob Bunter and Jay Sharmer. Tom and other retired Santa Cruz Police Officers, including Joe Haebe, Jeff Locke, Dave Larson, Steve Belcher, Ken Boe, Jim Conner, Tom Vlassis and Keith Duel, met at Gilda's Restaurant on the wharf for coffee nearly every morning.  They would be greeted and welcomed by their old friends Robert "Big Boy" Stagnaro and his sister and restaurant namesake Gilda Stagnaro, until her passing in 2008.

Tom retired from the Santa Cruz Police Department as Deputy Chief of Police in 1982, having served a distinguished 25-year career in our community.  A celebration of Tom’s life will be held on his 80th birthday, Sunday March 25th at 2:00 P.M. at the Santa Cruz Bible Church. In honor of Tom, The Santa Cruz Police Department’s Honor Guard will perform a flag lowering ceremony at 1:30 P.M. on Sunday March 25, 2012 in the front courtyard of the Santa Cruz Police Department, 155 Center Street.  All are invited to attend.  Following the flag lowering ceremony, the flag will be taken to the celebration of Tom’s life at Santa Cruz Bible Church in the Santa Cruz Police Department’s vintage 1961 Chevrolet Biscayne police car, where the Santa Cruz Police Department Honor Guard will perform a flag ceremony at the memorial service. 

Santa Cruz Police Minor Decoy Operation

On Tuesday, March 20, 2012 the Santa Cruz Police Department and state Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) participated in a minor decoy operation. The operation visited 21 off-sale alcohol establishments in Santa Cruz and had minor decoys attempt to purchase alcohol. In all, three businesses were cited for selling alcohol to minors. Below is a list of the cited businesses and those that did not sell to the minor decoy. 

Businesses that sold to the decoy:

Valero - 1319 Ocean St

7-11 - 2429 Mission St

DJ'S Mini Mart - 833 Water St.

The following businesses did not sell to the decoy:

Hernandez Market -Beach Market - Days Market - Rite Aid - 901 Soquel Ave. - Ernie's Liquor –

Lloyd's Liquor - The Grog Shop - Bonesio's - Rotten Robbie on Mission St - Trader Joe's - Mission Liquors - USave Liquors - Circle Market - Santa Cruz Market - Valero - 335 Mission St.  - Valero, 1516 Soquel Ave,

7-11 - 367 Ocean St - Ocean St Market and Deli.

Funding for these operations comes from a state ABC grant.

Most Wanted: Week of March 20th

Santa Cruz Police Most Wanted: Week of March 20th

Suspect:         Nicholas Marquez

Description:   31 years-old, 5’ 10” 180 pounds, brown hair and brown eyes. 

Santa Cruz City resident.

                

Note:               Nicholas Marquez is currently wanted on two outstanding warrants - DUI and possession of methamphetamine. A felony warrant was issued as a result of Marquez failing to appear in court in September, 2011. If you have seen Mr. Marquez please contact SCPD Investigations at 831.420.5820 or leave a tip on our iPhone app or website.

                       

Scanner Feed Temporarily Down

The scanner feed on our iPhone app will be down for the next few days as we make upgrades to our service. We are hoping the improvements will improve the clarity of the feed.

Thanks for understanding!

SCPD

Please Help Us ID This Suspect

We need your help identifying the person in these photos - she is a suspect in a forgery case. If you recognize her, please contact SCPD Investigations at 831.420.5820 or leave a tip on our website or iPhone app.

Most Wanted: Week of March 15

Name: Korina Fay Berger
Wanted For: Identity Theft, Possession of an Illegal Weapon, Possession of a Controlled Substance
Description: 23 years-old, 5-07, 120 lbs.
Santa Cruz Resident

Ms. Berger has 4 warrants for her arrest for numerous crimes. She has failed to appear in court for all of the charges and warrants have been issued. If you know where Ms. Berger is please contact SCPD Investigations at 831.420.5820 or leave a tip via our website or iPhone app.

SCPD Sets Record for Calls-for-Service in 2011

In 2011 the Santa Cruz Police Department set a record for the most calls-for-service in the agency's history - 90,484. This represents an 11 percent increase over 2010 and a 1/3 increase over 2006. The department believes that increases over the last four years can be attributed in large part to improved community partnerships (where neighborhood organizations have been working to encourage residents to call) and increased self-initiated activity by officers. This call load equates to approximately 250 calls-for-service/day at our department.

• 2006 - 67,932
• 2007 - 72,601
• 2008 - 78,132
• 2009 - 85,774
• 2010 - 81,496
• 2011 - 90,484

SCPD Honor Guard Selections

The Santa Cruz Police Department announced the addition of two officers to the agency's Honor Guard. Officer Alec Ganzel and Officer Chris Vigil are the newest additions to the department's voluntary team. Both these members are military veterans and took part in the City's Veteran’s Day recognition with the Honor Guard in 2011.  This was the first ceremony of its kind in the City of Santa Cruz.  Over the years, the team has participated in multiple ceremonies representing the department including Cookies for Courage (9-11 remembrance), the annual Peace Officers’ Memorial Day in Sacramento, the passing of law enforcement officers and the chief's investiture. The team is led by Lt. Larry Richard. Here is a photo from last year of the team.

February Crime Stats

A look at crime stats from February show a mixture of reductions in burglaries and robberies but an increase in arsons and aggravated assaults.  While the total number of arsons for the year is 4 this is still an increase over last year when in January and February we had none. At this point in the year most of the numbers appear with the normal distribution range. If you're interested in seeing more crime stats you can always view our crime maps by clicking here or our crime stats by clicking here.

Santa Cruz Fire Battalion Chief McCaslin Retires

Santa Cruz Fire Department Battalion Chief Matt McCaslin retired after 37 years in the fire service on Wednesday. Members of the Santa Cruz Police Department along with representatives from every fire agency in Santa Cruz County were on hand for the event. Chief McCaslin worked closely with Santa Cruz Police during a number of high profile incidents including the 1989 earthquake, major floods and significant home and wild land fires. We wish him nothing but the best in retirement! Here is a photo from the event at Station 1 downtown.

Telecomunications Conference Features Department's Mobile App

Deputy Chief Rick Martinez was a featured speaker at a major telecommunications conference today being held in southern California. The conference is focusing on the Santa Cruz Police Department's mobile app - the first consumer-focused mobile application in the country. The one-day conference is focusing on new ways that local governments can communicate with their constituents and specifically how mobile apps can be used. Deputy Chief Martinez highlighted the mobile app's features including the crime maps, photos, video, tips, alerts and scanner. The mobile app was done jointly with EZ Axess, a tech start-up founded by two recent UCSC graduates.

Most Wanted: Week of March 7

Santa Cruz Police Most Wanted: Week of March 7

Name: Marquis Edwards
Description: 21 years-old, 6'03, 195 lbs., brown hair and brown eyes.
Unknown Residence.

Details: Mr. Edwards is currently wanted on five outstanding warrants. One of the warrants is for domestic violence. If you have seen Mr. Edwards, please call SCPD Investigations at 831.420.5820 or leave a tip via our iPhone app or website.