Source: Palo Alto Weekly Contact: Pubdate: Wedbesday 11 Mar 1998 Website: http://www.service.com/PAW/ WHO SHOULD POLICE EAST PALO ALTO? Both Sheriff Don Horsley and Police Chief Wes Bowling say they should be responsible for police work in the community San Mateo County sheriff's deputies and city police have shared responsibilities for fighting crime in East Palo Alto since 1993, patrolling different parts of the city in the late afternoons and nights. In the last year, however, relations between the two departments have become notably strained. Each has independently formed a special drug enforcement team to combat a surge in open drug dealing in the city, instead of working together to form one unified team. The creation of two separate drug teams illustrates what is happening in East Palo Alto, where two separate police forces are patrolling the streets and arresting suspects, often without much communication with each other. When incorporation was narrowly approved by East Palo Alto voters in 1983, supporters cited the need for their own police department as a chief reason for seeking self-rule. Before incorporation, the city was patrolled by sheriff's deputies, but there was strong sentiment in the community that the sheriff provided poor service to the residents, which helped fuel the drive for incorporation and local control of the police. Almost 15 years later, city officials are still wrestling with how to get and maintain effective police services in the community. Just as the sheriff's department didn't inspire much confidence back in 1983, the city's police department is being criticized for shortcomings today. A San Mateo County grand jury report released last December recommended that the department be disbanded and the sheriff's department handle police services in the city for up to five years. The grand jury report came after the embattled department had had one officer convicted of brutality and another charged with sexual harassment. Other officers had gained a reputation--in the law enforcement community--for being unprofessional. Defenders of the department, including many residents, say the department has had a few isolated incidents that have received widespread publicity, unfairly painting a picture of an incompetent department. The officers who created the problems--including four who are now in the process of being fired--are gone, Police Chief Wes Bowling said, leaving behind a core of dedicated, hard-working officers. Others in the community, including members of the East Palo Alto Homeowners Association, who have been at odds with the City Council for years, say that enough is enough. They say the city should listen to the grand jury and let Sheriff Don Horsley do the job. Horsley was not sheriff in 1983, when the sheriff's department was held in such low esteem by city residents. The people who will decide the future of policing in East Palo Alto are all elected officials, including the five members of the East Palo Alto City Council, the five members of the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors--who have voted to subsidize police services in the city since 1993--and Horsley himself, who would very much like to add the city to his department's policing responsibilities. Now, Horsley is making another pitch to take over police services in the city as he and the City Council negotiate a new police services contract to replace the one that expires June 30. Under the current contract, the sheriff provides about seven patrol officers each night and most of the detectives in the investigation bureau. Will the existing contract be continued as is? Will the council adopt Horsley's plan? Or will East Palo Alto end up with something different, something in between? "The bottom line for us is we will make sure that crime doesn't get out of control the way it did before," said Vice Mayor Sharifa Wilson. "If it means contracting out (for police services), that's what it means. I supported incorporation for local control of the police, but if local control can't assure safety, then I have to move from that position." To help the council decide, the city is preparing to commission an assessment of police services in the community by hiring an outside consultant to determine what kind of department the city really needs. The consultant's report will presumably also tell the council whether its current department can meet the city's public safety needs, or whether the city should scrap the department and bring in someone else to provide police services. In doing a needs assessment for police services, city officials hope to learn what kind of staffing it will take to provide adequate safety and protection for the city's residents. "A needs analysis will be crucial (to determine) what can reasonably be expected, given the resources we have, so there are no more unrealistic expectations," said City Manager Jerry Groomes. But when the idea of bringing in a consultant was first raised during a City Council study session Dec. 13, Police Chief Bowling thought the results of the study might be predictable. "The first thing a consultant will tell you is you have to raise the salaries," Bowling said. His officers are the lowest paid in San Mateo County. "We do have a major resource problem. We can't afford to pay them enough to stay here, so I am constantly short-handed." Vice Mayor Wilson then replied, "What you are saying is we will never have a stable department. I don't have any more money to give you." "I've lost 17 people this year alone," Bowling said. The council is banking on the Gateway 101 redevelopment project to bring a measure of financial health to the city, with two other large redevelopment projects in the planning stages. And police services, like other services, hinge to a great degree on money. The city's budget was temporarily helped by a parcel tax that voters approved by simple majorities in 1989 and again in 1994. But a group of property owners challenged the validity of the tax, winning in 1997, when a state appellate court ruled the tax unconstitutional because it failed to win the required two-thirds majority. After the parcel tax expired last year, the council attempted to raise almost $900,000 a year through passage of a new tax for police services. Although it was one of the best-organized election campaigns in recent years in the city, Measure I failed to win the necessary two-thirds voter approval. The measure gained 59 percent of the vote, a vote of support for the City Council, but little else. Now, in addition to trying to find enough money for police and other city services, the city is looking at the daunting task of paying back as much as $4 million in refunds to property owners. "The numbers just don't add up,' said Menlo Park Police Chief Bruce Cumming. He noted that his department has a budget of $7 million for 49 sworn officers in a city of about 28,000, with a much lower crime rate than East Palo Alto's. East Palo Alto, on the other hand, has an annual police budget of $3.5 million for 41 sworn officers in a city of about 24,000 people. The pay difference is substantial. In East Palo Alto, beginning police officers earn $31,632 a year, while the top pay for veterans is $38,436 a year. In Menlo Park, beginning officers earn $45,924 a year and veterans at the top grade earn $55,776 a year. Because of the pay differential, the East Palo Alto Police Department has had all but a revolving door, with 17 resignations last year alone. Seven of the departing officers joined the sheriff's department. That means the department is constantly hiring and training new officers, and is often understaffed. After incorporation, the city had 24 officers in 1985, the first year for the police department. The city had 31 officers in 1991, and has generally budgeted for 41 or 42 officers since then, but in reality it has always been several officers down. The department is currently budgeted for 41 officers, but it actually has 35. "They need to pay competitive salaries and have a full services department," Cumming said. "The math doesn't work right now. Maybe it will in the future." As a result, Cumming thinks the city should follow the advice of the grand jury and contract for police services with the sheriff's department. "I understand the emotional concerns of being self-governing and self-policing," Cumming said. "I want to see them make it." Cumming's sentiments were echoed by Palo Alto Police Chief Chris Durkin and former East Palo Alto Police Chief Burny Matthews, whom Bowling replaced three years ago, when Matthews took his current job as police chief in Alameda. "If the money is not there to pay the officers adequately, maybe a decision needs to be made to take another approach," Matthews said. Like others, he has faith that the city will eventually find firm financial footing and be able to afford the police services it needs. He called the city a "rose waiting to bloom." Durkin also expressed faith that the city will eventually pull through. "(But) there should be a financial plan for success," Durkin said. "When you look at all the police needs of the city objectively, and look at the city's resources, it becomes very difficult to provide the service levels that the community needs. The business plan should include a point in time when the police department will be fully funded." Until that time comes, Durkin said that the sheriff's department may be the option that makes the most financial sense. "As distasteful as it may be, I think the option of disbanding the police department should be considered," Durkin said. For some residents, the sheriff's department is the preferred option. "I've basically lost trust in our police department," said Fred Kiani, a member of the East Palo Alto Homeowners Association, which sued the city over the 1994 parcel tax and won. Kiani is angry at the city for implementing a tax that was later found to be unconstitutional. He's also angry at the police for how they have treated him when he has tried to report crimes. "I've called a number of times to report drug dealing and gang activity," Kiani said. "(They) came and basically used their power to harass me, not only verbally. They pushed me against the wall and started interrogating me, asking where I lived, what I did. "The police department is not properly managed, and all the work is being done by the sheriff's department, so it's a waste of money. The police department is not doing its job." Another critic of the police department, Samuel Rasheed, has been frustrated with the loitering and disturbances late at night at two convenience stores near his Weeks Street home. "We've never had a real police department that's capable of running a city," Rasheed said. Local control of the police department, long a priority for the City Council, isn't as important to Rasheed. "I don't want local control," he said. "I want public safety, no matter where it comes from." Sally Nakai and her husband have owned a nursery in East Palo Alto for 50 years, She, too, would like the city to contract with the sheriff's department for police services. "In the long run, we have to have development, and people will feel more safe and secure with the sheriff's department," Nakai said. "They have all the resources and all the experience." She added that "the police department's record speaks for itself. We have too many problems that the local police can't handle. This is not political. It's all about security and safety." On the other side of the issue are some residents who have rallied around the police department to demonstrate their support for continuing local control. In January, a group of residents organized an appreciation dinner for the police, which was attended by around 100 residents and several council members. To the booming sounds of "Bad Boys," 23 uniformed police officers climbed up onto a stage at Ronald McNair School to introduce themselves to the cheering crowd. "We want to assure you that you are the pride and joy of the civic government that will be here tonight and evermore," Mayor R.B. Jones told the officers to rousing applause. "The San Mateo County sheriff has to understand that local control is a keystone to any contract we sign." Chief Bowling called the appreciation dinner "a shot in the arm" for his much-maligned police force. "The job that my folks do is a tough job and oftentimes it's very thankless," Bowling told the audience. "There's been a lot of lies and innuendos about the East Palo Alto Police Department. . . . The labels that have been placed on my folks are unfair. We've been understaffed. The loyal few who have stayed have worked their hearts out." Bowling said the police department received around 51,000 calls for service in 1997, the equivalent of 140 calls per day. That means that each officer is handling around 20 calls per day, he said. Anti-drug activist Dennis Scherzer said that the city's police are doing a good job, considering the lack of manpower and resources. "They're running, they're tired, they're dealing with a lot of nuts," he said. "The fact that they're not snarling and biting people's heads off after 13-hour shifts is incredible." Like Mayor Jones, some residents are adamant that East Palo Alto should not give up local control of their police department. "We risk too much if we lose control of this service," resident Belinda Rosales recently told the City Council. "It has been a hard struggle. Police department efforts have had a direct result in reducing the crime rate." Longtime East Palo Alto resident William Webster said that he encountered very little hostility toward the police when he canvassed many homes in the city last summer to enlist support for Measure I, which would have helped fund the city's police department. A handful of people complained about lack of courtesy, he said, but very few people complained about response times, which used to be a common complaint. Webster said that, although the police could probably use some sensitivity training, response times were less than two minutes whenever he had called for help. "Even though the tax measure failed, support for Measure I reflected a vote of confidence in the police force," said Webster. While Webster conceded that there had been problems in the police department since incorporation in 1983, he said that things had vastly improved over the last five years. Webster does not welcome the sheriff's proposal to take over the city's policing. He lived opposite the sheriff's substation in East Palo Alto for 15 years before incorporation, and he was not impressed by their service. "My carport was a transit point for drug activity," said Webster, who said he feared for his life when he came home from work at night during the 1970s. "I called repeatedly to the sheriff's substation across the street with very inadequate response. It got to the point when I no longer bothered calling." Another longtime resident, Bob Hoover, remembers those days, when the best-known drug-dealer hangout was across the street from the sheriff's department substation. "I would want to return to that?" Hoover asked. "For me, it's not even a discussion." Hoover is helping organize his neighbors in the Gardens area, which is patrolled by sheriff's deputies every night. He said it is more difficult for the community effort to link up with the deputies than it is to communicate with the city's officers. "I'm strongly in favor of retaining our police department," Hoover said. Webster is concerned that as soon as the city signs its police service over to the sheriff, the sheriff's department has the city over a barrel financially. "Once the sheriff is the only game in town, they can charge more and say, 'We've been subsidizing you guys.'" But Sheriff Don Horsley said that the amount of money the city of East Palo Alto would pay toward the sheriff's services would remain stable from year to year. "The city would get a subsidy, and the subsidy would remain the same," he said. Horsley's proposal would provide 37 police and administrative staff at an annual cost of $4,994,674, including four sergeants, 20 patrol officers and seven detectives. The proposal suggests a county subsidy of over $1 million, which would leave the city with a bill of just under $4 million for its policing services. This year, the city is paying $3.5 million for its own police department of 41 officers, and $650,000 for services provided by the sheriff's department, including patrol officers, detectives and dispatch services. This service is subsidized to the tune of $1.25 million. As part of his proposal, Horsley said that he would be prepared to guarantee a crime rate in East Palo Alto that was equivalent to the rest of San Mateo County within a time frame agreed with the city. He would also guarantee a minimum number of six deputies on the streets at any one time. At the moment, he said, there are sometimes as few as three East Palo Alto police officers patrolling the city at any one time. Horsley said that the city deserves better than a police department that hires brand new officers and then loses them within one year. According to Horsley, 21 East Palo Alto officers applied last year to work at the sheriff's department, which pays officers a salary 35 percent higher than East Palo Alto's, plus benefits. Of those 21, seven East Palo Alto officers joined the sheriff's department last year, he said. "Some didn't pass our test," said Horsley, adding that even if they had, he did not want to strip the department of 21 officers at one time. "We'd probably be able to hire most of them as long as they don't have lying and brutality in their background. I'd be derelict in hiring those people." One East Palo Alto officer who joined the sheriff's department last year, Heiklti Fakava, said that he did so for financial reasons. He said that his new job in the main jail was far less stressful than policing the streets of East Palo Alto, and he received double the salary. "If there were more officers on the street, the stress level would drop," said Fakava, who worked in East Palo Alto from December 1995 until September 1997. Fakava said that morale was low in the department, particularly when officers started leaving. "People were just doing their time," he said. "It's a training ground for new officers, and at the same time it's a rebound school for officers who have failed somewhere else." Fakava's comments are reflected in the grand jury report released last December. (See sidebar on page XX.) In recent months, city officials have been concerned that the sheriff's proposal and efforts seemed to be undermining the city's police department. "It appears that the sheriff is acting completely independently," said Vice Mayor Wilson. "The sheriff is supposed to provide service based on what we say our needs are. . . . When you're (out) to undermine the police department, it raises the question of your commitment to reduce crime." However, as the top law enforcement official in San Mateo County, Horsley said he felt entitled to make suggestions for improving public safety in East Palo Alto. "I don't think they've been able to do the job," said Horsley, who said he didn't seek out the press to make his views known. "If somebody calls me up, I'll talk. "I don't think I've been attacking them," he said of East Palo Alto officials. "But I am the chief law enforcement official in the county, and I think have a responsibility to say what the solution is." For Horsley, turning East Palo Alto around would be a final feather in the cap of his 30-year career in law enforcement. "I got into law enforcement to help people," he said. "I only have four or five years left. I think East Palo Alto is the last community (in San Mateo County) that could benefit from development. We could make that community a model of social change, and I want to be a part of that." Horsley said that turning East Palo Alto around is an achievable goal. "We shouldn't be competing," Horsley said. "I think we have to put aside our differences. . . . The citizens don't care what the department does as long as they're safe." According to Horsley, the line officers on the streets of East Palo Alto work well together. Horsley said he is committed to improving communication between himself and East Palo Alto's police chief. "Wes (Bowling) is basically good-hearted," Horsley said. "He's certainly capable. He means the best for the community." But having a good heart is not the issue. Combatting crime is. In 1992, when the city was considered the murder capital of the United States, there were 42 murders in just one year. In 1996, there was only one homicide, but last year the murder rate crept up again to 15, including nine people who died in one arson attack on Fordham Street. This year, there have already been three murders. "I see violent crime creeping up," said Horsley, adding that some citizens had warned him that the latest spate of violence was similar to pre-1992 levels. "I don't think it's a crisis now, but a priority needs to be putting out the brush fire." Bowling said that much of the drug activity was a result of a rise in gang activity. Other activity could be traced to people arrested in 1992 through 1994 who are now back out in the streets, he said. "We had crooks robbing crooks for their dope," he said. "Some of the shootings were retaliatory." Horsley said drug trafficking has become much more sophisticated in East Palo Alto since 1992. Dealers are careful not to be caught with drugs in their possession, he said. They keep drug supplies in empty apartments, and keep a lookout system to warn dealers if the police are approaching. "The first priority has got to be taking the drug dealers off the streets," said Horsley. "The only way to make an impact is to make arrests. That can't be done by uniformed officers. It needs to be well thought out." Both the East Palo Alto police department and the sheriff's department have set up strike teams that sweep well-known drug-dealing locations a total of four nights of the week. East Palo Alto's Operation Hotspot has been targeting 18 hot spots throughout the city since November. Starting this month, the sheriff's department set up a similar strike team that targets both drug dealers and gang activity in the city, but works on alternate nights to the East Palo Alto teams. In addition, the county's Narcotics Task Force supplements the police department, operating undercover in East Palo Alto to penetrate the drug dealing that goes on behind closed doors. Cooperation between the police department and the sheriff's deputies is crucial in these operations in order to avoid any accidents. "The worst possible thing that could happen is one strike team mistaking the others for crooks," said Horsley. "That could put them in serious danger." According to Horsley, policing strategies have changed from a paramilitary model since the sheriff was last in charge of public safety in East Palo Alto. Today, police are more sensitive to a community's needs, he said. "I'm sorry if the sheriff didn't respect the community in the 1970s," he said. "But we've changed." To that end, Horsley, Bowling and the City Council are all advocating a model of community policing in East Palo Alto. "There are a lot of neighborhood groups willing to work with you as long as you're a consistent presence," said Horsley. According to former East Palo Alto police officer Fakava, one of the major problems that the police encounter is the reluctance of citizens to speak up and cooperate with the police. "For the community to open up to them will be a little bit difficult," he said. "You won't get anyone to assist you for fear of retaliation." Fakava said that, with minimum staffing levels, it would be difficult to address the minority communities of East Palo Alto who often don't speak English. "The drug battle will not be won without the help of the people. I don't care if you bring the National Guard in here," said Montel Yarborough, chairman of the city's public safety commission. Mayor Jones said that he had been in favor of community policing since he ran for City Council in 1992. "I'm enthusiastically campaigning to convince my people it's a sound process," he said. During January's police appreciation dinner, Bowling announced the formation of a Citizen's Academy. The Academy would encourage citizens to find out more about what the police department does, he said, and expose young people to the public safety process. The first Academy begins the week of March 29. Horsley said that the sheriff's department makes sure that each team of deputies has at least one Spanish-speaking member to reach out to the Latino community. He advocates mentoring programs for kids and anti-drug activities in schools, such as DARE. Anti-drug campaigner Scherzer, who runs his own citizen's group called Turnaround East Palo Alto, said that East Palo Alto has been a tolerant city for too long. "East Palo Alto has become a haven for people who aren't tolerated elsewhere," he said. "It used to be a good-time party place. Now, the party is over." With the Gateway 101 redevelopment project scheduled to be completed by the end of 1998 or early 1999, city officials know that the clock is ticking for establishing the perception in people's minds that East Palo Alto is a safe place to come to shop. "We're under a lot of time pressure," concedes City Council member Duane Bay. The city has stumbled into one obstacle after another in its efforts to create a tax base and financial stability for the city government. Gateway has taken much longer to get off the ground than originally planned, thanks to one of the former anchor stores reneging on its original deal and pulling out. The Gateway project, the office building and hotel complex planned for Whiskey Gulch, and a likely redevelopment project in the Ravenswood Industrial Area should provide a long-term financial solution, eventually. But getting through the next few years may prove difficult. And the public perception of safety is necessary for the redevelopment projects to work. The grand jury report in December added to the public perception that the police department may not be up to the tasks it faces. "It's an issue of perception," Mayor R.B. Jones said. "If people don't believe we can ever handle it, we won't, no matter how many officers we have." Others in the community wonder whether the sheriff's department and police department can continue mutually sharing the job of providing police services. "The sheriff and police department do not get along, period," said resident William Branner. "It's real clear that there needs to be some improved communication (between the two departments)," said Vice Mayor Sharifa Wilson. "There needs to be an integrated command of police services in the community under our leadership," Jones said. Bowling said that problems between his department and the sheriff's department only started in 1997, when Horsley made another public pitch to take over police services in the city. "The problems and finger-pointing surfaced when we got closer to a new contract in 1997," Bowling said. However, the logistics of two police forces working in the same city at the same time can be awkward. Most East Palo Alto patrol officers work a 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. shift, when a smaller detachment comes on duty to cover part of the city. The sheriff's deputies working patrol come in at 3 p.m. and work until 3 a.m., so there is overlap between the two, although they cover different parts of the city. But no one from the sheriff's department is part of the two daily patrol briefings that the city police hold, and no city officers are at the daily sheriff's department patrol briefing. "If we're going to have another contract, I'd like to sit down and talk with the sheriff's department about some things," Bowling said. "We share with them what the problems are and what the issues are. But we do our thing and they do their thing." Horsley and Bowling say they don't have difficulty getting along. "I have nothing personal against Don, and I don't think he is doing anything personal against me," Bowling said. "But I believe he is doing what any sheriff is doing, which is to expand his area for patrol services." The pair even went out and had a game of golf together in January. No word on who won.