New Year’s Eve Safety Enhancement Zone designation in Downtown Santa Cruz

The men and women of the Santa Cruz Police Department are working to make sure our community can enjoy a safe start to the New Year. To make sure our community stays safe, we will have all hands on deck working New Year’s Eve.

Every available SCPD Officers will be patrolling downtown as well as our neighborhoods to ensure a safe environment for New Year’s Eve. SCPD has enacted a Safety Enhancement Zone designation for the downtown corridor in the City of Santa Cruz.

The City of Santa Cruz Safety Enhancement Zone boundaries and road closures is accessible on our Google Maps http://goo.gl/3VXQ0Y

Why create a Safety Enhancement Zone?
Public Safety is SCPD's #1 priority. We want downtown to be a safe and enjoyable atmosphere for everyone.

What time is the Safety Enhancement Zone in effect?
The Safety Enhancement Zone in the downtown corridor will begin at 5:00 PM on December 31st and end at 5:00 AM on January 1st.

What happens in the Safety Enhancement Zone?
The Safety Enhancement Zone allows for a “Triple Fine” to be levied on certain Municipal Code violations, such as possession of alcoholic beverages in public and other unsafe or illegal behavior related Ordinances.

What is the purpose of the Triple Fines?
The goal of triple fines is to deter unwanted behavior. The fines are very expensive. It's an extra incentive for rowdy people to keep their behavior in check.

Parks & Rec is hosting their yearly countdown at the Town Clock, starting around 11:40 PM. The crowd rings in the new year with a DJ and light show.

Don't Drink and Drive! Statistically, driving accidents go up during the holidays, so it's crucial to have a safe ride on New Year's Eve. Find a sober designated driver to get you home safely!

Santa Cruz Police Department wishes you all a happy and healthy holiday and thank you for your continuing support.

SCPD Wrapping Up Cases While You Wrap Presents

Neighborhood Enforcement Team and K9 Luna Nab Drugs and Two Probation Violators

On Friday evening, December 22nd, 2017 around 11:00 pm, Officers from the Santa Cruz Police Department Neighborhood Enforcement Team responded to complaints about suspicious activity from a first floor hotel room in the 600 block of Riverside Avenue. Officers located a suspicious vehicle associated to the hotel room in question and identified one of the occupants as Sean Oliver, a 32 year old resident of Santa Cruz. Officers confirmed that Sean Oliver was on probation and attempted to conduct a probation compliance check. When Officers knocked on the door to the hotel room, the occupants dead-bolted the door and refused to allow the Officers to enter. SCPD Officers, with help from K-9 Luna, forced entry into the hotel room. Officers initially arrested Sean Oliver and a second subject, Tyler Huffman. Mr. Huffman, a 21 year old resident of Felton, is also on probation Both were charged with resisting, obstructing and delaying a peace officer, and probation violation.

The following investigation revealed that Sean Oliver and Tyler Huffman were in possession of methamphetamine, digital scales and other drug paraphernalia. They also disposed of a large quantity of methamphetamine before Officers made entry to the hotel room. Both subjects were additionally booked into the Santa Cruz County Jail on several other related charges, including maintaining a place where drugs are used or sold, and possession of potentially stolen property with the serial numbers removed.

                     Sean Oliver         Tyler Huffman                  

The Santa Cruz Police Neighborhood Enforcement Team is a proactive specialized unit. NET works to focus on mid to long-term issues often times associated with gangs, drugs and other chronic problems throughout the City of Santa Cruz. If you have criminal activity or chronic problems in your neighborhood, please contact the SCPD Neighborhood Enforcement Team at: NET@cityofsantacruz.com

The Santa Cruz Police Department is dedicated to our community with ongoing efforts to keep Santa Cruz a safe place to live, while improving the quality of life throughout the city.

SCPD Arrest Prowlers And Recover Packaged Merchandise - Help Get Gifts Home For The Holidays

Do you recognize this jacket?

SCPD recovered packaged jackets from suspect prowlers. Did they get stolen from your doorstep? We would very much like to get it back to the rightful owner in time to wrap and put under the tree.

On 12/9/17 at approximately 11:25 pm, SCPD Officers responded to the 300 block of Pelton Avenue on a report of a male and female subjects who were prowling in a residential backyard.

Officers located Ryvera Knutson, 23 years old from Brookdale and Dorin Lyngstad 39 years old from Santa Cruz who matched the description sitting on the curb near the 100 block Phelan Court.

Miss Knutson and Mr. Lyngstad had multiple bags and various items on the sidewalk including 3 fur jackets made by Urban Republic. The fur jackets were all identical with original tags still attached in original packaging

Officer asked Mr. Lyngstad what they were doing, and he said they were just looking for a power outlet in the backyard to charge his phone. The pair then realized they had a power bank and did not need a power outlet.

Ryvera Knutson and Dorin Lyngstad put under arrest for prowling.

Let's get these gifts back to the rightful owner. Do you recognize this jacket? Contact Detective Pendleton at 831-420-5832 or spendleton@cityofsantacruz.com

SCPD Announces Promotion Of Sergeant Dan Forbus

The Santa Cruz Police Department is proud to announce the promotion of Detective Dan Forbus to the rank of Sergeant.

Sergeant Forbus, an 11-year veteran of the department, will be assigned to the Operations Division. “Sergeant Forbus brings a wealth of experience to this position and will be a welcomed addition to an already strong group of sergeants," said Chief Mills. "Dan has outstanding leadership qualities and professional skills that will contribute to the continued success of our department."

Over the course of his career, Sergeant Forbus worked in various assignments including patrol, the Down Town Unit, Field Training Officer, Investigations and a member of the Honor Guard. Forbus is a highly skilled investigator and often at the heart of the significant and most serious cases affecting the Santa Cruz community.

Dan born and raised in Santa Cruz comes from a family tradition steeped in law enforcement. His father is retired Deputy Don Forbus, and his older brother Sergeant Dave Forbus works for SCPD as well. Dan is married with two children and lives in Santa Cruz.

Sergeant Forbus also excels as a teacher and mentor by working with high school students as a Criminal Justice ROP instructor. He also volunteers to teach in the department’s PRIDE Program, Teen Public Safety Academy, and Citizen’s Academies.

Chief Andrew Mills said “Sergeant is one of the most important roles in our organization. I’m confident that Sergeant Forbus will be successful in his new post.”

Please join us in celebrating and congratulating Sergeant Forbus on achieving a significant milestone in his career.

Community Invitation To Walk With Us - Santa Cruz Police & NAACP Santa Cruz For 2018 MLK March For The Dream

Santa Cruz Police Chief Andrew Mills is honored and excited to announce that the NAACP Santa Cruz County Branch and the Santa Cruz Police Department will co-sponsor the first joint Santa Cruz MLK Day March.

The theme is “March for the Dream – Honor the Past, Impact the Future.” The March will be held on Monday, January 15, 2018. We begin at 10:00 a.m. at Pacific Avenue and Cathcart Street and end on Cooper Street. After the march, we will convene for speeches and family-friendly activities to commemorate the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

The March for the Dream is an opportunity to put Dr. King’s words and ideas into practice by bringing people from diverse backgrounds together to build authentic bonds of human understanding and appreciation.

“The MLK Day March is family friendly, inspiring, and collaborative, said SCPD Chief Mills. It’s also an opportunity for the businesses, social and community groups that make this city strong to come out and be recognized while supporting a common cause.”

We invite individuals and community groups/clubs/congregations to Walk With Us; RSVP your group name and the estimated number of people online. We invite you to fill out an application and secure your place in the march. The application deadline is January 10, 2018. Staging begins at 9:00 a.m. on Cathcart between Cedar Street and Pacific Avenue.

To volunteer for one of the many activities necessary to put on this event, please sign up online. We look forward to working with you.

Event details are available online at www.cityofsantacruz.com/community/mlk-march-2018 or the NAACP Santa Cruz Facebook page. For more information, please call 831-420-5844 or 831-429-2266.

We invite you to march with the Santa Cruz Police Department and the local NAACP. We believe as Dr. King said, "The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy."

2017 Recipients of the Jim Howes Community Service Award

Today the City Council honored two very deserving individuals for their service to the community. Please join us in congratulating the 2017 winners of the Officer Jim Howes Community Service Award - Julie Schneider and Chip.

About Julie Schneider – City Employee Recipient
Julie has worked as a Victim’s Advocate for the City for nearly 28 years. Collaborating with the police department, Julie helps victims from their first interaction with law enforcement until their case ends. In this role, Julie comes into people’s lives when things have gone horribly wrong and helps them navigate the criminal justice system. From walking through a homicide scene to console a distraught family member, to sitting on the floor with a shell-shocked sexual assault victim to reassure them of their safety, to helping a rookie police officer talk with a domestic violence victim, Julie has done it all. Part counselor, mentor and bulldog, Julie walks victims and their families through police procedures, courtroom protocol and legal jargon used in their cases. She is an adamant defender of victims’ rights and passionately works to ensure those rights are honored by the justice system. Julie’s knowledge and understanding of victims’ rights has been essential in building trust and cooperation between the community, the police department and the justice system.

About Chip – Community Recipient
As Executive Director of the Downtown Association for nearly a decade, Chip has been a tireless champion and advocate for Santa Cruz’s Downtown. Chip is also a valued and active participant in city government, regularly attending Council and Commission meetings to speak about policies and to offer ideas on behalf of Downtown interests. Against this backdrop of community-oriented efforts, Chip took up an extraordinary project to help our community. After visiting a program in San Jose called Downtown Streets Team, a homeless service program focused on jobs and community benefit, Chip became a champion of bringing this program to Santa Cruz. In addition to organizing tours for city leadership and promoting the program in professional and personal meetings, Chip took up a personal challenge: he personally set out to raise $50,000 to support the program coming to Santa Cruz. With the $50,000 matching funds from Chip, the City provided the balance and now the Downtown Streets Team is up and running and making a profound difference in the cleanliness of our City and to help those most in need attain a job, job training and other support. Chip was the lynchpin in bringing the Downtown Streets Team to Santa Cruz, and this was accomplished above and beyond his ongoing, excellent work on behalf of our Downtown.

The Jim Howes Award is given annually to community members and City employees for outstanding service to the Santa Cruz community, and was created in honor of Officer Jim Howes, who retired in 2007 after serving as a Santa Cruz Police Officer for 26 years. Officer Howes was known throughout the City for his positive approach in relationship-building between the City and Santa Cruz community.

Deputy Chief Martinez with SCPD Victim Advocate Julie Schneider

ONE LESS GUN: SCPD Proactive Policing Enables Officers To Arrest Suspect with Loaded Firearm & Two Suspects on Drug Charges

On Saturday afternoon December 2nd just after 2 pm, Santa Cruz Police Officers from the Neighborhood Enforcement Team were patrolling the 800 block of Water Street on the east side of Santa Cruz, when they noticed three suspicious subjects in a late model Buick. As officers contacted the three subjects in question, the suspects attempted to conceal drugs and drug paraphernalia inside the vehicle. The three suspects were arrested at the scene and identified as Andrew Tennyson (23 years old) from Santa Cruz, Isaiah Hayden (20 years old) from Soquel, and Nicholas Smith (20 years old) from Santa Cruz.

Andrew Tennyson (23 years old) from Santa Cruz

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Isaiah Hayden (20 years old) from Soquel

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Nicholas Smith (20 years old) from Santa Cruz.

A search of the vehicle incident to the arrest of all three subjects revealed a few grams of methamphetamine, as well as prescription pills, and a loaded concealed firearm. Andrew Tennyson was arrested for possession of the loaded firearm, while Isaiah Hayden and Nicholas Smith were both arrested on drug-related charges.

Please continue to contact SCPD when suspicious activity occurs in your neighborhood.

The Santa Cruz Police Neighborhood Enforcement Team is a specialized unit. NET works as a team to focus on mid to long-term issues often times associated with gangs, drugs and other chronic problems throughout the City of Santa Cruz..

SCPD is dedicated to our community with ongoing efforts to keep Santa Cruz a safe place to live, work and raise a family.

SCPD #Community Gives

The Santa Cruz Police Department recognizes the pressure families in need face during the holiday season. To show support for those in need and to support women empowering women, the ladies at SCPD partnered with the Walnut Avenue Family and Women’s Center.

A collection of sworn officers and civilian staff contributed money and time to provide presents and food store gift cards to make Christmas a very special experience for local families in need.

Whether the contribution is large or small , we can all support the lives of struggling families in our community. To find out more ways to lend a hand, Adopt A Family Holiday Project at the Santa Cruz Volunteer Center www.scvolunteercenter.org 

Walnut Avenue Family & Women’s Center is a local nonprofit that administers vital services to our community and helps women, children, and families to thrive. #CopsCare