Editorial: Chief Bowling retirement reopens policing options Editorial: Chief Bowling retirement reopens policing options (June 30, 2004)

Rising crime rate demands a more collaborative strategic response by East Palo Alto, Palo Alto and Menlo Park departments -- similar to the early 1990s
The pending retirement of East Palo Alto Police Chief Wes Bowling opens the possibility, at least, of renewing a three-community approach to fighting crime that was remarkably successful a dozen years ago.
Bowling announced last week that he will retire effective July 9 after a decade heading the department. He expressed pride in the turnaround the department has experienced in recent years. Earlier he had risen to the rank of lieutenant in the San Jose Police Department.
But much of his tenure was marked by severe management challenges and controversy that commenced with the falling apart of a close working relationship with neighboring Palo Alto and Menlo Park police departments. Bowling survived a major crisis in 2000, when an outside consultant found the department to be in disarray and recommended 71 specific corrective actions - many of which have been addressed.
The multi-department collaboration remains low, however. By contrast, at its apex in 1992 (prior to Bowling being named chief), the three departments created a law-enforcement group called "The Red Team" in response to a wave of homicides that earned the community the designation "murder capital of the world" based on population.
The team was officially disbanded two years later after it made 1,000 arrests of alleged drug dealers, shooting/murder suspects and burglars. The arrests broke the back of the killing and crime spree.
Yet the still-close working relationship between the three departments quickly broke down with Bowling's arrival. While there currently seems to be good operational back-up and periodic briefings, there is minimal management-level interaction or joint planning on how to deal with crime rate that is again on the rise.
No one is sure why the crime rate is rising again - the economic slump, or perhaps many of the worst of the 1,000 criminals are getting out of jail and are back on the streets. But the fact is that the "East Palo Alto crime rate" isn't just an East Palo Alto problem. In the drug-dealing world, many of the buyers come from west-of-Bayshore communities. In terms of crime, the robberies, burglaries and car-jackings don't respect city limits.
In addition to improved enforcement, there also may be opportunities for joint recruitment and training programs, improved emergency backup and disaster coordination, and other management and operational efficiencies that could be explored to help all three departments do a better job of getting the bad guys identified and off the streets, and perhaps eliminate some areas of duplication.
In seeking a new chief, city officials should place a high priority on finding someone who is highly collaborative-minded and willing to help create a more effective response to a crime problem that affects all three communities.

Editorial: No strike: everybody wins Editorial: No strike: everybody wins (June 30, 2004)

Lengthy and grueling negotiations between Palo Alto city officials and the city's largest employee union appear to be coming to a positive conclusion this week -- and could leave the city stronger in many ways as an organization.

Members of the Local 715 of the Service Employees International Union, which represents about 660 city employees, almost voted Monday afternoon on terms of an agreement negotiated late Sunday afternoon. Optimistic SEIU officers set up a voting place in front of City Hall in the late afternoon for members to deposit ballots, with balloons and celebratory picket signs. But a glitch stalled the vote until later in the week.

"We'll be glad to have our lives back," Maya Spector, a senior librarian who chairs Local 715 and led the union's negotiating team, said of the impending settlement. The near-agreement covers eight significant points of contention (see story in Upfront) -- from "the big one" of health coverage to voluntary unpaid furlough days to save money in a tight year. Spector said there were two dozen negotiation sessions, one of which continued for 18 hours and another more than 12 hours.

In addition, "we've also taken care of a long list of 'working group' issues" that affected specific departments. In side discussions, "we worked all those out, and we're very pleased," she said.

The two-year agreement stays within the $5.5 million total that the City Council had established as its final offer last week, City Manager Frant Benest noted.

Both sides deserve commendation for professionalism and an overall concern for the city and community in a difficult economic climate.

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