Staff Report.LG Police Services Report Jan - June 2023
PREPARED BY: Jamie Field
Chief of Police
Reviewed by: Town Manager, Assistant Town Manager, and Town Attorney
110 E. Main Street Los Gatos, CA 95030 ● (408) 354-6832
www.losgatosca.gov
TOWN OF LOS GATOS
COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT
MEETING DATE: 08/15/2023 ITEM NO: 12
DATE: August 3, 2023
TO: Mayor and Town Council
FROM: Laurel Prevetti, Town Manager
SUBJECT: a. Receive the Information Provided in the Police Services Report: January –
June 2023; and
b. Approve the Technical Sharing of Information Obtained from the Town’s
Automated License Plate Reader (ALPR) Technology and Information
Captured by the Flock Safety Technology with Other Law Enforcement
Agencies in Santa Clara County.
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends the Town Council:
a. Receive the information provided in the Police Services Report: January – June 2023; and
b. Approve the technical sharing of information obtained from the Town’s Automated License
Plate Reader (ALPR) Technology and information captured by the Flock Safety Technology
with other law enforcement agencies in Santa Clara County.
BACKGROUND:
On January 17, 2023 the Police Department presented an update on overall delivery, staffing
updates, and comparison analysis of Police services. This Police Services Report for January –
June 2023 presents the following information:
• Department staffing update
• Efficiencies and improvements
• Calls for service and officer activity
• Mandates and training
• Mental health services
• Flock update
• Community Outreach and Partnerships
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DISCUSSION:
DEPARTMENT STAFFING UPDATE
The Los Gatos-Monte Sereno Police Department (LGMSPD) enshrines and promotes a positive
culture, while maintaining pride in the vision and values of the organization, teamwork, and a
collaborative community policing partnership.
The LGMSPD has two Police Officer Trainees graduating from the Police Academy on August 15,
2023, and they are about to embark on at least a 16-week Field Training Program. In addition
to the academy graduates, LGMSPD will have three Officers in the Field Training Program.
While that brings sworn staffing to 38 of the 39 budgeted positions, there are still seven
Officers unavailable and on protected leave. The three Officers on training are not available as
a solo sworn staff members due to having to complete training.
There are 28 available sworn officers that are divided among four patrol shifts in the Patrol
Division, Investigations Division, and Administration. Removing the three sworn Command
Staff, Chief and two Captains, results in 25 available sworn Officers to deliver core Patrol and
Investigative services. Part-time Community Services Officers (CSOs) and Reserve Police
Officers were able to assist in limited capacity to alleviate the workload on the lean staff. CSOs
worked 1,331 hours during this reportable six-month timeframe and Reserve Police Officers
worked 299 hours. The table below identifies the current availability of sworn staff, while also
considering protected leave, light or modified duty, and those currently being trained:
Budgeted
Sworn
Current
Sworn
Off due to
injury
Light /
Modified Duty
Field Training Total Active and
available
39 38
7 3 3 28
Dispatch has eight budgeted positions. Currently there are five operational Dispatchers and
one in training. The Police Department has six per diem Dispatchers to supplement the full-
time Dispatch staff and allow for better coverage, training, and vacation opportunities with
more focused training of the new Dispatch staff. The per diem Dispatchers have filled in for 897
hours throughout the time period of this report, January – June 2023.
The Police Department has hired one lateral Police Officer and two academy recruits during the
timeframe represented in this bi-annual report. The lateral Officer completed his Field Training
Program. During the same timeframe, we hired two Dispatchers, and one successfully
completed the Training Program and the other is nearing the end of her training. Once a
Dispatcher completes training, they still work with another Dispatcher for a period prior to
handling a shift on their own. Both Dispatchers that were hired had prior dispatching
experience.
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DISCUSSION (continued):
In the last year, the LGMSPD has implemented the following enhancements as efforts to retain
and recruit employees; however, the success and momentum of these efforts are slowed by
limitations of current staff as recruitment efforts are a collateral function of the Police
Department staff and not a dedicated role or responsibility.
• Assessed and improved hiring process efficiency – 2022
• Improved recruitment and Police Department visibility through social media,
recruitment tents at various venues, and engaging with a public safety recruitment
company – 2022/23
• Assessed policies to address contemporary issues such as visible tattoos and
recognitions – 2022
• Implemented professional development of our current personnel through career ladder
in Dispatch and Records – 2022
• Implementing a Police Department Career Development Plan and a newly established
Leadership Development Program – 2022/23
• Continued encouragement of higher education through ongoing college tuition
reimbursement – ongoing
• Promoting a $10,000 lateral bonus in 2023 (two laterals hired to date)
• Implemented an Internal Police Officer Referral Program – 2022/23
• Ongoing commitment and research towards resources to support the physical,
psychological, and mental wellness of all Department staff – 2023
The chart below shows the difference in overtime hours between the last two fiscal year
periods of January - June. Dispatch is supplemented by six per diem dispatchers, therefore, the
Dispatch overtime does not reflect as significantly as sworn overtime hours used. The current
estimated overtime for the Police Department has more than doubled what was budgeted
($508,983) for FY 2022-23. The variance of 1,090 hours more overtime for sworn staff during
the first six months of this year is due to limited staffing, workers compensation vacancies,
Police incidents, weather related events, required trainings, and the Presidential visit.
Title 1/01/22 – 6/30/22 1/01/23 – 6/30/23 Variance in FY
Communications 1,607 hours 1,771 hours 164 hours
Sworn Staff 3,524 hours 4,614 hours 1,090 hours
The overtime referenced in the above chart depicts the hourly overtime necessary to sustain
core services and does not include the many hours that were committed by Community
Emergency Response Team(CERT), Disaster Assistance Response Team (DAR)., Command Staff
overtime, and other volunteer or Police Department management resources to respond to pre-
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DISCUSSION (continued):
planned, disaster, or critical incidents. Furthermore, the majority of the disaster and critical
incidents were handled by one or two Dispatchers.
The pre-planned event of the visit in June by the President of the United States involved three
operating radio channels, monitored by three to four Dispatchers, full road closures that
required extensive pre-planning, ten DART volunteers, and a full Police Department call-in on a
holiday. The extensive pre-planning entailed partnerships with local, State, and federal
partners and was the second White House dignitary visit in less than a year. While an honor
that is held in high regard for members of the LGMSPD, it is also a time when our lean staffing
structure is apparent.
EFFICIENCIES AND IMPROVEMENTS:
Reassignments: LGMSPD is currently operating with 28% reduced available sworn staff. There
is no surplus of Officers to provide additional Patrol coverage during events, to adequately staff
expanding geographical areas of responsibility, and a limited ability to provide vacation, sick
leave, and mandatory training relief as needed. The Department has reassigned traffic
enforcement, investigative resources, and specialty assignment personnel to Patrol to maintain
minimum staffing coverage due to staff vacancies and training needs and requirements. This
requires changes in priorities and timelines for investigations, proactive traffic enforcement,
and community outreach activities.
Transition to Police Operations Building (POB): In an effort towards improved efficiency,
customer service and continuity of available resources, efforts were made in the first six
months of 2023 to begin moving staff from Headquarters (Civic Center) to the Police Operations
Building (POB – 15900 Los Gatos Blvd). The LGMSPD is unique in the Bay Area with a two-
building model for a Police Department of its staffing size. Typically, only large agencies of
several hundred or more have more than one location. For example, if a community member
needs to get a copy of a report and then pick-up evidence or meet with a Detective, they must
visit both locations.
The internal consistency and continuity of communication, teamwork, and project management
or follow up is challenged under the two-building model. The front door to POB is always
locked as there is not staff available to monitor the front counter to POB. There is a
communication box on the wall outside of the front entrance where visitors can speak to a
Dispatcher through. Dispatch is able to remotely key open the front door so that the visitor can
be let into the waiting area to wait for an employee to be notified. The Temporary Holding
Facility (THF) at POB was decommissioned for a future spatial assessment to occur with a goal
PAGE 5 OF 12 SUBJECT: Receive the Information Provided in the Police Services Report: January – June 2023 and Approve Data Sharing DATE: August 3, 2023
DISCUSSION (continued):
of reallocating Police services (Communications Center and Records Division) currently housed
at Headquarters (Civic Center) over to POB.
The Traffic Sergeant, Administrative Sergeant, and Personnel and Training Manager were all
moved to the POB. Both the Traffic Sergeant and Administrative Sergeant frequently fill
vacancies on Patrol shifts to meet minimum staffing needs and to better manage Department
overtime.
Ordinance Updates: The LGMSPD in conjunction with the Youth Commission engaged in
collaborative efforts to update the Bike Ordinance. Police Department staff also focused on
updates to the Concealed Weapons (CCW) Permits Ordinance to fall in alignment with a court
decision from July 2022. LGMSPD entered into an agreement with a company, commonly used
as an online application processing system throughout other California Law Enforcement
agencies, to guide the CCW Application process. LGMSPD expects this process to become
operational and begin accepting CCW applications for Los Gatos residents in September 2023.
Software and Technology: Other significant software platforms and equipment have been
implemented or researched during January – June 2023. This includes the ability to introduce
electronic citation technology, which would allow for more streamlined communication with
the offender, courts, and the records database. The E-Citation platform interfaces with the
current Police Department records management system and would not require the current
manual entry process by staff. The funding options for this technology are still being explored
and staff submitted an Office of Traffic Safety (OTS) grant application for this purpose. The
Department is waiting for the grant results.
A cadre of staff have also reviewed an automated Field Training Program platform that would
allow for more fluid management of training for sworn and communications staff,
communication with the trainee, and retention ability. This will allow for improved
communication, feedback, and accountability measures in a more standardized and digitized
format. Current training programs and completion of various segments are outlined,
documented, and signed off on paper documents. By the completion of the Training Program,
the binder is 3-4 inches thick with the necessary documentation and has to be tracked, filed,
and initialed. Staff has applied efforts to identify a sustainable and efficient method to track
field training records to improve the field training process.
Through fiscal support from the Police Foundation, the LGMSPD was able to train a team of
Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) operators that have completed their Part 107 test and received
certification to operate drones. The funding also allowed for LGMSPD to purchase a total of six
drones in May 2023.
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DISCUSSION (continued):
The UAS team has created three deployable kits, each with two different types of unmanned
aircraft systems to allow for swift diversity of use depending on the deployment scenario. The
LGMSPD drone team is operating within a Lexipol UAS Policy and has Standard Operating
Procedures similar to those used by other law enforcement agencies with a UAS program in
Santa Clara County. The LGMSPD UAS program has proven invaluable in the short timeframe
that operators and equipment have been fully functioning and has been requested to respond
and assist as a county resource.
CALLS FOR SERVICE AND OFFICER ACTIVITY
Despite the outlined staffing challenges, the LGMSPD has continued to meet response times
and provide an uncompromising high level of service to the community. The following table
depicts a comparison of the Communications Division call volume, both inbound and outbound,
immediacy to which they are answered, and number of 911 calls over the last two years
between the months of July to December.
The industry standard for a Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) agency is a target for 911 calls
to be answered within less than ten seconds 95% of the time. Outbound calls can be a result of
transferring callers to other points of contact within Town Departments, contacting or following
up with community members, or conducting other inter-agency duties.
January –
June
Inbound 911
calls
% of 911 calls
answered < 10 seconds
Incoming Non-
emergency calls
Non-emergency
Outbound calls
2022
5,365 95.3% 16,369 8,392
2023
5,956 96.8% 16,501 8,362
Officers’ response to priority calls for service continue to be comparable to prior years, below
the priority goals. These metrics can be found in the Fiscal Year 202/24 Adopted Operating
Budget in the performance measures section of the Police Department chapter. Priority 1
refers to immediate emergency with threat to life or a public safety hazard, Priority 2 is an
urgent emergency that requires an immediate response, and a Priority 3 incident is a non-
emergency. The LGMSPD has set response time goals of 5:00 minutes for Priority 1 calls, 10:00
for Priority 2 calls, and 15:00 for Priority 3 calls (see detail in Attachment 1 which contains the
presentation materials for this item).
PAGE 7 OF 12 SUBJECT: Receive the Information Provided in the Police Services Report: January – June 2023 and Approve Data Sharing DATE: August 3, 2023
DISCUSSION (continued):
Additional data regarding traffic stops and preliminary Racial Identity Profile Act information
can be found in Attachment 1 and at the following link: 2023 Annual Racial and Identity
Profiling Advisory Board Report.
MANDATES AND TRAINING
Training and succession planning for both sworn and professional staff continues to be an
ongoing priority. While staffing is strained, we continuously assess and monitor the fiscal
implications from the overtime needs and wellness impacts on staff members who provide the
backfill as needed so that training can occur.
The Police Department’s personnel assessment, equipment, and training is being emphasized in
the newly implemented Career Development Plan and Leadership Development Plan. With
almost half of the Police Department staff being new to the position or newly promoted in the
last three years, there is a significant need for training and professional development. The
training needs could not be met during the pandemic period and the Police Department is now
committed to focusing on this staff development.
In February 2023, the LGMSPD partnered with the Addison-Penzak Jewish Community Center of
Los Gatos for a host location for Peace Officers Standards and Training (POST) certified
Interview and Interrogation Training for many of our newer sworn staff and for sworn staff
from other surrounding agencies. This three-day course was presented by a well-known law
enforcement training company comprised of experienced investigators and covered
interrogation law, liability awareness, detecting deception, and behavior analysis.
In May 2023, the LGMSPD hosted a training for all Police Department staff, both sworn and
professional staff, on Community Policing in the 21st Century with an emphasis on Procedural
Justice. The nine-hour course focused on communication techniques to enhance safety and
improve interactions between the police and the public. The training was POST certified and is
endorsed by the National Fraternal Order of Police and the National Association for the
Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).
The LGMSPD researches local training opportunities so as not to incur travel expenses
associated with hotel, travel, and food costs for training. This is not always attainable as
certification requirements near expiration or limited training opportunities for specific
curricula.
The LGMSPD sworn staff are required by POST to complete 34 hours of training annually and
Dispatchers are required to complete 24 hours. From January to June 2023, staff have
attended 755 hours of required training to meet POST, Cal-OSHA, and other compliance
mandates. An additional 696 hours of necessary development training has been provided for
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DISCUSSION (continued):
sworn and professional staff. Finally, sworn and professional staff have attended 328 hours of
leadership training to aid in the professional development.
As staffing improves, the Police Department will focus further on supervisor development and
training to re-establish specialty teams to develop confidence and competency in these roles.
This requires continuous assessment of mandatory or immediate Department training needs
based on POST requirements and operational effectiveness.
MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES
In the past several years, numerous California law enforcement agencies have modified their
procedures to limit the role of Officers in mental health concerns, opting instead to integrate
regional unarmed mental health teams and resources into their response. The Santa Clara
County Behavioral Health Services operates a variety of unarmed mental health response teams
with varying degrees of authority, training, and areas of emphasis for crisis response and safety
planning. Each of these resources are available via the 9-8-8 call center currently in operation
in Santa Clara County.
LGMSPD evaluates multi-disciplinary needs when providing support to those of our unhoused
community or experiencing mental health concerns. There has been a reduction of
documented reports of mental health evaluations during this reportable period of 2023 versus
2022 from 58 documented reports to 34.
One of the most recent developing resources is the Trusted Response Urgent Support Team
(TRUST), which is an onsite field team consisting of a Crisis Intervention Specialist, First Aid
Professional, and a Peer Support Specialist. This non-law enforcement mobile crisis response
team works closely with crisis hotlines, the community, and family members to provide
intervention and follow up. TRUST has been providing services to all of Santa Clara County
since November of 2022 and is in the process of establishing a West Valley Team along with
dedicated response vans. TRUST is a resource for the community and law enforcement
throughout Santa Clara County in addition to other similar resources, such as Mobile Crisis
Response Team (MCRT)
FLOCK UPDATE
The LGMSPD has been on the forefront of responsibly integrating technology into our efforts to
provide public safety. In the late 1990’s, we were the first agency in the County to install
cameras in each patrol vehicle. A decade later, we were the first agency in the County to issue
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DISCUSSION (continued):
body cameras to every Officer. The incorporation of this technology and more led to significant
improvements in accountability, accuracy, and efficiency.
In 2021, we began a two-year pilot project to evaluate the potential benefit of Automated
License Plate Reader (ALPR) technology when we installed 14 cameras at the eleven primary
vehicle entrances to our jurisdiction. Almost every other law enforcement agency in the County
has since either invested in the same technology or is considering doing so and a dozen Los
Gatos and Monte Sereno neighborhoods joined us in installing the same cameras and sharing
their data with us.
The Flock Safety Technology is the ALPR technology that was adopted into the Police
Department FY 23/24 budget and is no longer considered a pilot program. This technology
continues to be an extremely valuable investigative and crime prevention tool throughout the
Town of Los Gatos. Public view on the Police Department’s Website via the Transparency
webpage, provides updated transparency data, crime statistics, the Flock Transparency Page,
and the Police Department ALPR Policy.
In the first year the cameras were installed, the LGMSPD documented numerous instances
where ALPR technology specifically detected, deterred, or solved crimes in our jurisdiction. In
2023, the results have been similarly dramatic. Most notably, a LGMSPD Flock camera quickly
identified the suspect vehicle in a fatal hit-and-run collision in the first six months of 2023 that
led to the driver’s arrest and ongoing prosecution.
Most recently, three events illustrate the investigative power of the LGMSPD ALPR system. In
one, patrol Officers quickly identified a hit-and-run suspect vehicle where only the description
of the vehicle and approximate timeframe of the collision was known by the victim. In another,
LGMSPD Dispatch identified a vehicle used in a string of armed convenience store robberies as
it entered Town and used that information to prevent a similar armed robbery in town. Third,
the ALPR system alerted Officers on duty that a stolen vehicle had entered Los Gatos and this
has been the case on multiple occasions. Officers use this data to locate and recover the
vehicles when possible, often take suspects into custody, and solve or deter other crimes based
upon evidence located inside the vehicles.
The integration of surveillance technology comes with great responsibility to maintaining the
privacy rights of the community. The LGMSPD specifically integrated the concerns of civil rights
organizations into its ALPR policy that is publicly available via the LGMSPD Transparency
Portal. These considerations continue to influence the vendor selection, camera position, data
retention and data sharing practices of LGMSPD. The LGMSPD is committed to the furtherance
of increasing public safety.
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DISCUSSION (continued):
The data collected from this ALPR system is currently only being used by our agency and we are
not sharing the information with other agencies within Santa Clara County; however, we are
the only agency not sharing with other law enforcement agencies. By allowing our agency to
share this data with agencies within our County we will be increasing our ability to investigate
and deter crime by broadening the data pool locally.
The ability to share information obtained by the ALPR systems is managed by the Department
Flock Technology administrator. If the data sharing is approved, the administrator would adjust
the settings within the Town’s Flock technology system which would allow for the share to
begin occurring with other agencies within the County Sheriff. The Flock technology sharing
mechanism is controlled by the individual agencies and there is not an agreement that exists
between agencies as it is an independent decision.
COMMUNITY OUTREACH AND PARTNERSHIPS
The Police Department is committed to building, bridging, and enhancing police-community
relationships. This is done through opportunities for engagement and in the multitude of
services that the Department offers to develop collaborative methods and working with the
various volunteer groups that LGMSPD oversees. The Volunteer In Policing Program (VIP) visits
the homes of people vacationing (Vacation Checks program) and with three VIPs handling this
service in the last six months, they have contributed over 200 volunteer hours.
Community outreach and resources occur in many forms. Below are some highlights of the last
six months:
• Neighborhood Watch meetings - 2
• Coffee With A Cop
• Big Truck Days - 3
• Senior Resource Fair
• Therapy Canine community engagements
• Neurodiverse event with the Youth Commission for Easter
• Community Safety Month – Venture Pre-School
• CERT Drill - 2
• New Resident Welcome Packet deliveries - 178
• Vacation Checks – 10 to 20 homes registered weekly / visited 3 times per week
The Police Department has done extensive recruiting for the Explorer Cadet program, one of
several volunteer opportunities. The Explorer Cadet program is hopeful to have about eight
Explorers by September 2023 and began the year with two. Additionally, the volunteer support
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DISCUSSION (continued):
and exhaustive hours that went into supporting the Town of Los Gatos during the storm season
of early 2023 was greatly appreciated. The Community Emergency Response Team (CERT)
and Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) partnered to do neighborhood assessment and
reports of damages back to the Emergency Operation Center at the Police Operations Building
and were a much-needed force multiplier when minimal resources were available. CERT had
three call-outs during this reportable timeframe. DART had six call-outs, some of which
included assisting at the Cats Hill Race, assistance with road closures during major injury
accidents, and road closures that Police Department staffing could not cover during the
Presidential visit to Los Gatos in June 2023.
Other partnership efforts and outreach are exemplified by the Police Department’s Vulnerable
Community Resource Team (VCRT) and the over 100 occasions that staff has proactively
worked with the local unhoused community and its stakeholders to attempt to reduce the
impact of homelessness on those experiencing it and upon the community. As time permits,
sworn staff attend the weekly pantry services at St. Lukes to be available as a resource,
maintain positive relationships with the unhoused community, and to facilitate connections and
resources.
Additionally, the Victim Services Unit (VSU) expanded its services by making proactive follow-up
calls to all victims of domestic violence, the local family members of the decedents in death
investigations, and the victims and family members of local residents who suffer significant
injury. The Police Department’s VSU program is in need of additional committed and
experienced volunteers in order to sustain the nature, value, and continued level of service of
this program.
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends Council authority to allow for information captured by the current ALPR
system managed by the Flock Technology platform to be shared with other law enforcement
agencies within Santa Clara County. This is the practice for all other ALPR agencies within Santa
Clara County.
CONCLUSION:
The dedicated members of the LGMSPD have been working tirelessly to provide public safety
with integrity, compassion, and professionalism. This Police Services Report is intended to
provide an update and provide transparent information of operational efforts, priorities, and
status for a six-month review for January to June 2023 for the community and Town Council.
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CONCLUSION (continued):
The staff of LGMSPD model the high-touch, localized, responsive, and personal customer
service essence the community deserves. Full-service efforts of the LGMSPD maintain a public
safety delivery focused on education and prevention with enforcement as necessary to provide
for the safety and security of the community and employees.
During the remainder of 2023, the LGMSPD will continue its organizational vision focused on a
theme of development. This includes development, advancement, and progressive efforts in
technology throughout the Department and professional development of new and recently
promoted staff. This development will also allow for greater efficiencies, eventual reduction in
overtime, and a goal of retention. The external focus is on continued local engagement, cross-
Departmental support, public safety, and education for our community.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The acceptance of this report has no fiscal implications.
ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT:
This is not a project defined under CEQA, and no further action is required.
Attachment:
1. PowerPoint Presentation