SCPD Grateful For All Your Support

Since the senseless murder of the Police Officers in Dallas this week, many of our great community members have gone out of their way to send letters, cards and emails or; stop an officer on the street just to say thanks and show your support.  

This afternoon, I stopped by the office to pick up some work files and found this amazing family waiting at the front doors of the police department. 

Folks, meet the Harris family: 
Nitasha, Brendon, Cynthia and Tage.  

This wonderful family brought a giant fresh cake just to show their appreciation to the men and women of our department.  Moved by the events in Dallas, they wanted to find a way to say "Thank You".  

We are so grateful to have such a strong base of support, and blessed to have such great families in our community like the Harris'.  It means the world to us that you would show your appreciation and acknowledge the daily sacrifices made by our team here at SCPD.  You inspire and encourage us as we work hard to keep our community safe from those that mean harm.  

Thank you all so much for your expressions of support and appreciation!!!
 
About that cake....I hear it has been extremely popular with the swing shift team working right now. 

Great Patrol Work Leads to Return of a Stolen Camera with Family Photos and Arrest of Suspect

On July 6^th, we posted images found on a camera seized from a suspect during an arrest.  Once again, the great detective work from our Santa Cruz PD Facebook followers comes through and we are able to make contact with the camera’s rightful owner.  Here’s the rest of the story:

On July 6^th at about 10:30 AM Officers Elliott Rock and Dave Albert were on foot patrol on Pacific Ave.  They came across our suspect getting ready to light up his marijuana pipe in the courtyard of Taco Bell at 802 Pacific Ave.  Officers Rock and Albert contacted our suspect and began his investigation. 

Our suspect is Mr. Francisco Valdez aka: Francisco Moran.  

Mr. Valdez (Moran) is on probation and has an extensive history of arrests in Santa Cruz and Watsonville for weapons, drugs, burglary and theft related charges many times over.   

A search of Mr. Valdez’ (Moran’s) person and a bag in his possession found methamphetamine, marijuana, bolt cutters, and a CO2 powered and realistic looking revolver. 

Items in the suspect's possession

Also in his possession was a camera with images stored on it. 

Since he was in violation of his probation, Mr. Valdez (Moran) was taken into custody and booked into jail.   If his probation was not violated, he would have simply been given a citation for the narcotic violations and possession of burglary tools and sent on his way.

Meanwhile, Officers Rock and Albert forwarded the camera images to be posted on the department Facebook page.  Within 3 hours, our intrepid team of Facebook detectives had forwarded the message to the right person, and the rightful owner was alerted.  We will now add another charge to Mr. Valdez (Moran) for being in possession of stolen property. 

Great teamwork and great police work results in stolen property returned and a chronic offender back in jail. 

Help Us Identify Vandalism Suspect

Our community is amazing at providing us tips and helping us identify suspects from video and photos posted on our blog.  Here is another one to test your detective skills.  

On June 5th at about 1:45 AM our suspect approached the CVS store at 600 Front Street.  After discovering the store was closed and the doors were locked, the suspect kicked the door.  The kick resulted in the lower glass pane breaking. 

The incident is caught on video which was eventually turned over to our officer.  Click below to take a look at the video:

Here are a couple of still shots from the video:

The suspect was described by witnesses as a African American male, approximately 20-30 years, Afro style hair, wearing a maroon hoody style sweatshirt and black pants.  

If you recognize this person, please let us know.  Refer to Case #16S-04682.   You can also drop us a tip by the methods listed below. 

Anyone with information is encouraged to contact the Santa Cruz Police Department Investigations Unit (831) 420-5820.  Anonymous tips can also be sent to the police department through our Tip Line (831) 420-5995, or from our Website; www.santacruzpolice.com .  Tipsters can also submit an anonymous tip via our smartphone app or from an SMS text.  Visit our Website for instructions.

SCPD Proud to Support and Carry the Torch for Special Olympics Northern California

SCPD was proud to once again carry the Torch for the  Special Olympics Northern California.  

The SCPD team picked up the Torch at the city limits from the Sheriff's Office.  We carried the Torch through Santa Cruz and eventually handed it off a team from the District Attorney's Office at the County Government Center who were going to carry it to Scotts Valley.      

It was a Beautiful Day to Showoff the Torch

The Torch will wind its way through California until it reaches the final destination of Davis, CA for the opening of the Summer Games taking place on the weekend of June 24^th.  

Our Team Leader, Sergeant Mike Harms

Downtown Welcomes the Torch

The Law Enforcement Torch Run began in 1981 as a way to raise awareness and sponsorship for the Special Olympics.  SCPD has participated every year since the inception.  Charged with being “Guardians of the Flame”, law enforcement officers carry the torch throughout California handing it off in each jurisdiction. 

The official handoff to the District Attorney's Team

The Law Enforcement Torch Run is not only a nationwide event, but also an international event with all 50 states and more than 35 foreign countries participating. 

This event has raised over $100,000,000 worldwide for Special Olympics.  

Santa Cruz Police Department 2015 Annual Report Released

 

Click Here to View the 2015 SCPD Annual Report

Dear Friends and Colleagues: 

It is my pleasure to present the Santa Cruz Police Department’s 2015 Annual Report.  This is the first annual report that our agency has produced in my tenure with the Santa Cruz Police Department, which spans over 29 years.  We are excited to provide information from the past year about our organization and the service that our dedicated and hard-working women and men of the Santa Cruz Police Department provide to our community every day.  The staff of the Santa Cruz Police Department continues to partner with community members, city government, area law enforcement agencies, and other stakeholders to improve the quality of life in our community by providing high quality, professional police services.

Our police department continues to increase capacity and grow stronger following the economic downturn that began in 2008.  The police department is at nearly full-strength with 93 sworn positions currently filled.  Staffing levels have not been like this in quite some time.  We continue to look for ways to be more effective and strategic in our efforts to bring you the finest in public safety service.

I encourage you to take time to read our annual report.  It contains a wealth of information about our police department. I trust that you will find it both interesting and informative. 

Sincerely,

Kevin Vogel
Chief of Police

Surf City Exchange Club Honors Police Officer and Firefighter of the Year

Congratulations to Detective Dan Forbus and Firefighter Matt Haut.  Both were honored at the annual Blue and Gold Banquet hosted by the Surf City Exchange Club on Friday night at the CPDES Hall. 

Police and Fire teams were treated to a great dinner, great company and great entertainment by our host.  Special thanks go to out Steve Arnold and Johnny Fabulous. 

Steve Arnold and Johnny Fabulous Headlining the Show

This marked the 4^th year that the Surf City Exchange Club has honored us with the Blue and Gold banquet.

The recipients of this award are selected by their peers at their respective departments.  Firefighter Matt Haut was recognized by his peers for his tireless service to our community.  Not only is he a paramedic on the Engine, Matt is a certified rescue swimmer, Fireboat Pilot, and SWAT Medic.  All of these roles requires years of dedicated training and expertise.  Congratulations Matt!

Firefighter Matt Haut Accepts His Well-Deserved Award

Detective Dan Forbus is a highly skilled investigator and oftentimes at the heart of the major and most serious cases affecting the Santa Cruz community.  Dan is a Santa Cruz local with a family tradition steeped in law enforcement by his father retired Deputy Don Forbus and his older brother Sergeant Dave Forbus. 

Sergeant Dave Forbus proud of his brother Dan

In addition to his experience from numerous assignments at the police department, Dan excels as a teacher and mentor.  Dan gives back to the community 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.  

In nominating him for the award, Dan’s peers described him as dedicated, hard-working, leads by example, the first to lend a hand, always looking to better himself and those around him.   Pretty impressive praise from an amazing group of peers.  

We had a ton of fun throughout an evening filled with friendship, camaraderie, laughter and hijinks.   

Special thanks to our own Steve Pendleton who worked hard to help coordinate the efforts.  Apparently, he was also in charge of selfie-patrol:

Steve with the Records Team

Steve with Joyce

Steve with the Chief

Thank you Surf City Exchange Club, for your generosity and dedication to public safety.

Since the formation of the first Exchange Club in 1911, in Detroit, the Exchange Clubs have been dedicated to service and strong social values.  Our very own Surf City Exchange Club includes in their mission statement, “To make our community a better place to live”.   Thank You Exchange Club for all you do.