Santa Cops Bring the Magic of the Holidays to Children in Need 🎄 Donations Needed for Santa Cop & Friends Event

Santa Cruz Police Department hosts an inaugural Santa Cops & Friends for Kids program to help make the holidays brighter for underprivileged children in the City of Santa Cruz. Santa Cops & Friends community outreach works to provide gifts and necessities to those who would otherwise receive nothing over the holiday season. 

The Santa Cruz Police Department asks for donations from businesses and community members to provide gifts for disadvantaged children referred to the Santa Cops & Friends program by schools, local nonprofits, and residents.

"The success of Santa Cop & Friends Program is only possible with our community's generous donation support," said Joyce Blaschke, SCPD spokeswoman. "During these difficult times, the spirit of giving is more important than ever. Santa Cops is another way of giving back to the community that officers care so much about and do their best to protect".

DONATIONS | Santa Cops & Friends for Kids is entirely donation driven. Please support this worthy cause with a monetary donation, gift card, or toys/clothing (new, unwrapped, and in the original packaging). Our goal is to help as many families as possible; the number depends on donations. 

Monetary donations can be made online or by check payable to Friends of SCPD.

Donation Drop-Off Locations
SCPD 155 Center Street, Santa Cruz
Mon – Thurs, 9am - 3:30pm 
831-420-5870 to be met at the door. 

SC Civic Auditorium,
307 Center Street, Santa Cruz
Tues-Fri, 2pm-4pm

Donation Pick Up
We'll come to You! Call (831)420-5844 to make arrangements.

APPLICATION PROCESS | Eligible applicants must be 5-13 years of age, reside in the City of Santa Cruz, and family has an economic or social hardship. Such as losing a job, homelessness, military deployment, or illness.

* Referrals come from schools, nonprofit children's programs, and social service organizations.

* Community members can also nominate children.

* Application deadline is ‪Dec. 4, 2020, for referrals & nominations.

SANTA COPS & FRIENDS FOR KIDS
 DRIVE THROUGH EVENT Saturday, Dec. 12, 2020 

Santa Cops & Friends will host a drive-through holiday event on Church Street to observe social distancing rules. As families pull up to the Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium, SCPD Santa Cops deliver gifts selected to children in our program.

Everything you need to know about Santa Cops & Friends for Kids

Event Details, Donations, Applications, Forms & Flyers in English and Spanish

Santa Cops & Friends for Kids | www.cityofsantacruz.com/SantaCops
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Pogonip Park Clean Up

This week, the SCPD Parks Unit partnered with Santa Cruz Park Rangers, Roaring Camp Railroad, and Labor Ready workers to remove over five tons of trash and debris from Pogonip. Roaring Camp provided the six railroad cars necessary to haul the trash away.

SCPD Park Unit Officers and SC Park Rangers agreed the cleanup was needed because of the potential threat of biohazards in the area and other types of hazardous waste. Pogonip Park is an ongoing public safety concern. This area is a hideout for crimes that include illegal camping, drug use, theft, and dumping.

Santa Cruz Park Rangers and the SCPD will continue to identify and safely restore areas used for illegal camping and filled with environmental toxins. The health hazards expand into our wildlife habitats and water supply. Human waste and garbage is a significant source of pollution to the environment.

This undertaking was possible due to the to the Labor Ready Crew that worked all day on the project with SCPD Park Unit Officers and SC Park Rangers. Thank you to Roaring Camp Railroad for providing the train to haul away all of the trash.

Chief Vogel, Superintendent Bloom and School Board Trustees Recognize School Crossing Guards

On Wednesday April 17^th, Santa Cruz Police Chief Kevin Vogel, Santa Cruz City Schools Superintendent Gary Bloom and the Santa Cruz City Schools Board of Trustees recognized and honored our team of school crossing guards at the school board meeting.  Chief Vogel presented the school crossing guards with a chief’s commendation and Superintendent Bloom presented them with a certificate of recognition and appreciation.   

The Santa Cruz Police Department School Crossing Guard Program is responsible for the safety of our children and pedestrians in school zones throughout the City of Santa Cruz.  Our crossing guard program represents a partnership between the City of Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz City Schools and our community.  The crossing guard program is comprised of 12 school crossing guards.  Our mission is to create the safest environment possible for children in these intersections and thoroughfares.  Our school crossing guards must commit themselves to the highest level of professionalism and responsibility in order to safeguard the wellbeing of our children as they walk to and from school.   

The Santa Cruz Police Department, Santa Cruz City Schools and the Santa Cruz community recognizes and appreciates the exemplary service that our school crossing guards perform day in, day out, rain or shine, to keep our children safe.  Our school crossing guards are responsible for providing safety to children and pedestrians in designated school zones throughout the City of Santa Cruz by escorting our children across the street going to and from school, reporting license plate numbers of reckless drivers and reporting all suspicious activity they observe around the schools.  They are the caretakers of our community’s children.              

On behalf of the Santa Cruz Police Department, Santa Cruz City Schools and the Santa Cruz community, Chief Vogel and Superintendent Bloom commended the school crossing guards for their outstanding performance and service as members of the Santa Cruz Police Department’s School Crossing Guard team.  The school crossing guards who were recognized and honored are Richard Bartlett, Jerry Cacace, Joni Cashin, Stephen Fuehrer, Stephen Hedges, Gail Marizette, Mark Okamoto, Ron Perrigo, Jr., Saundra Sand, Debra Stephens, Anne Taku and George Wischer.  The image below depicts our team of school crossing guards who were present for the recognition ceremony, along with Chief Vogel and Superintendent Bloom.

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

Emergency Alert System Test - 11 AM November 9, 2011

 

 

Tomorrow, Wednesday, November 9, 2011, at approximately 11 AM Local Time, the federal government will conduct the first-ever end-to-end national test of the Emergency Alert System, or EAS. The test will occur  simultaneously on all radio and broadcast, cable, and satellite TV systems and will last thirty seconds. The purpose of the test is to ensure that, if ever needed, a Presidential alert message that warns of a national emergency could be disseminated throughout the nation. 

It is important that the public be made aware of the test so that the 9-1-1 system is not flooded with calls, forcing 9-1-1 centers to divert resources away from actual emergencies.

Although the national EAS test may resemble the localized monthly EAS tests that most Americans are already familiar with, there will be some differences in what viewers will see and hear. During the Nov. 9 test, listeners will hear a message indicating that, "This is a test." The audio message will be the same on both radio and TV. However, due to limitations in the EAS, the text message scrolling at the top of TV screens will NOT indicate that, "This is a test." 

This national EAS test will allow radio stations, television stations, and other EAS participants to test their equipment and their capability to receive and disseminate a national warning message. While it is hoped that the test is a 100% success across the nation, the test will allow EAS participants to identify and correct any problems with reception and/or relay of a national EAS message.

·         The public is reminded this broadcast is only a TEST.

·         Calls to 9-1-1 to inquire about the test are considered non-emergency calls.  These types of calls may overwhelm the telephone network at emergency call centers and delay 9-1-1 from receiving calls from citizens reporting real emergencies. Please help us ensure that callers with actual emergencies can get through to 9-1-1.

·         Only call 9-1-1 if you have an actual emergency requiring a response from police, fire or emergency medical services (EMS).

·         Calls to 9-1-1 to get information about this test should not be made.   For more information go to http://transition.fcc.gov/cgb/consumerfacts/eas.pdf

City and Boardwalk Prepare for James Durbin

City officials organized a meeting with Santa Cruz Police, Fire, Public Works, CVC and Boardwalk officials today to begin preparations for a possible James Durbin visit. City and Boardwalk officials are excited about the possibility of our local star James ending up in the top three of American Idol and doing a hometown visit. While dates and details are still in the planning stages, police representatives worked on details for possible road closures and public events that would be part of the visit. As we learn more information in the coming days we will be sure to pass it along!