Robberies & Burglaries Crimes & Incidents, posted by Ray, a resident of the Meadow Park neighborhood, on Jul 3, 2006 at 7:41 am
I'm frustrated by the increased robberies and burglaries in Palo Alto. But I'm even more frustrated by the inability of Palo Alto police to take effective measures against such crimes. As one may recall, just last week a burglar escaped a dragnet set up by almost the entire police department. The criminals seem to have no respect for the police and appear to have the ability to strike any time any where as they please. It is just a matter of time before they become even bolder and turn more violent. The City Council and/or Palo Alto Police should take a closer look at this serious problem and come up with a plan to tackle it with more vigor.
Posted by Mac, a resident of the Fairmeadow neighborhood, on Jul 3, 2006 at 10:56 pm
Last year there were some controversies over police practices.
I would like to know if the fallout from those controversies are holding the police back - are there policies and/or procedures that create extra red-tape and inefficiency for them? Are they afraid of losing their jobs or being sued for stopping particular people?
I would love to hear the opinion of real rank-and-file officers on this, not the police chief. I've read Chief Johnson's bio and she has a distinguished career. However, I believe that the position of being a police chief is heavily political, so the opinion of an officer on the street might be more insightful.
We need this problem solved now. If we start to earn a reputation for being an unsafe city it could lead to a host of other financial and civic problems!
Posted by Concerned, a resident of the Duveneck/St. Francis neighborhood, on Jul 4, 2006 at 8:11 pm
I am also wondering about the lack of success by Palo Alto police in securing neighborhoods from armed robbers and burglars. Is it really that hard or as the above commentator has suggested, are we witnessing the fallout from the court's decision against Palo Alto Police in stopping suspicious people on the street? While I agree the police shouldn't stop anyone purely due to the color of their skin, law officers have a duty to stop someone in a neighborhood like they don't belong in the dead of night, unless of course the budget-poor police department can't afford to send out undercovers, which is really the right way to do this thing. Sending out police cruisers is completely useless. What we need is an undercover operation.
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