The Santa
Cruz Police Department is pleased to announce that 2015 was welcomed without
any major incidents of violence. Good job Santa Cruz!!!
The
police department deployed additional officers throughout the city as well as a
significant contingent of officers on foot in the Downtown corridor.
Crowds
gathered at the Town Clock for a city sponsored Countdown Celebration. Like last year, temperatures dipped to
approximately 35 degrees around midnight.
The city sponsored event drew a crowd of approximately 4,000 compared to
last year of approximately 4,500 revelers.
Our officers
kept busy throughout the city, and in the Downtown. Between 5:00 PM on December 31st
and 5:00 AM on January 1st, officers responded to 159 calls for
service. This number is down from last
year’s 222 calls during that same time.
The
following is a breakdown of the Downtown arrest statistics for the night.
Arrests Total = 19
Public
Intoxication = 8
Drug
Possession = 8
Other = 3
Last year
saw a total of 20 arrests on New Year’s Eve
Cites Total = 38
Triple
Fine Cites = 26
(all for possession
of open containers of alcohol)
Non Triple
Fines Cites = 12
Last year
saw a total of 81 cites with 42 of those being Triple Fines cites.
One
case of interest involved a group of approximately 20 individuals dressed in
all black clothing, similar to “Black Bloc” activists. Just prior to midnight, these individuals carried
homemade banners promoting violence and death to police officers. Here is a photo of one banner that was seized:
This is a sad reminder that this myopic mentality still exists and is even promoted in some segments of our community!!
The group made their way to the Santa Cruz
County Jail at 259 Water Street where they vandalized County cars parked in the
lot, by throwing rocks, bottles and paint at the cars.
SCPD was able to capture and detain three members of
the group for questioning and identification.
Unfortunately, at the time, the three could not specifically be identified as the ones
vandalizing, although they were associated with the larger group. They were released after questioning, pending
further investigation.
The three
detainees traveled from various parts of the State to come to Santa Cruz to spread their hate and vandalize. The group included a 23 year old male from Santa Cruz, 25 year old female from
Reedley, CA, and a 29 year old female from Sacramento, CA.
Unfortunately, our community has felt the destruction from groups like this in the past. As such, our officers worked diligently to keep this group out of the
downtown corridor and to keep additional vandalism from occurring.
Other than this incident, it was a relatively peaceful night. Happy New Year Santa Cruz. Here is to a safe and prosperous 2015.
