The best way to report suspicious activity to us is to promptly call our 24-hour dispatch center at (831) 471-1131, or 911 if it's an emergency. 

While our officers routinely patrol our neighborhoods and parks, they can't possibly be everywhere at once. That's where our valuable community members come in.  Everyone in Santa Cruz can serve as extra sets of eyes and ears for the police. The commonly-recited mantra of "If You See Something, Say Something" could not be more true.

We urge our community members to trust their instincts, and if they see or hear something that does not seem quite right, to speak up and call us. Just because someone calls the police does not mean that officers respond and make an arrest; rather, a call to the police is simply a request to investigate suspicious behavior to determine if that behavior is innocent or criminal. If we do not know about it, we cannot investigate it. We would rather get a call about something that wound up being innocent, than we would about not getting a call about a crime in progress where the suspect is then able to escape.

We often hear from people that they did not want to call "and bother us with something trivial."  While we certainly appreciate their intent, often times what they may believe to be "trivial" is anything but, and actually may be the clue we need to stop a crime from happening, or allow us to arrest an offender so that no one else becomes a victim.

We also often learn after the fact that a witness had observed a suspect acting suspiciously before the crime occurred, but chose not to call the police at the time because they rationalized that suspicious behavior in their mind. Again, we urge the members of our community to trust their instincts; if something does not seem right, or if it seems out of the ordinary, it probably is. Just call us and give us the chance to look into it.

Examples of Suspicious Behavior that Merit a Prompt Call to Police

• You observe what appears to be a solicitor knocking on your neighbor's door. When they don't receive an answer at the door, they walk to your neighbor's unlocked side yard gate and go into the backyard. That is a possible residential burglary in progress.

• You are walking your dog late one night and see a shadowy figure down the street trying to open door handles of every parked car. That isn't someone who forgot which car was theirs; that is a theft suspect looking for a victim vehicle.

• You are at home watching Netflix late one night when you hear a female voice screaming in your neighborhood. You mute the TV and can only understand her crying "Help me!" You then hear other people laughing and a vehicle driving away at a high rate of speed. The screaming stops.  That is suspicious behavior and something that we need to promptly investigate. You may not have seen anything, but what you heard was certainly out of the ordinary and merits some investigation.

If you witness a crime or suspicious activity, promptly report it to our 24-hour dispatch center at  (831) 471-1131, or 911 if it's an emergency.

Being a good witness is not easy. When we witness crime or suspicious activity, it is often a stressful situation. That can make it challenging to focus on the types of details that an officer is going to hope you can remember during an interview. Here's a checklist of several things that will help you be the best witness you can, starting with when you initially call the police for help.

The Basics

• First, give the dispatcher your exact location.

• Stay on the phone and allow the dispatcher to question you about what happened. You may be ready to give all sorts of information to them quickly, but they need to ask certain questions first to get the most important information to our first responders as quickly as possible. Our dispatchers do an outstanding job of speaking in a calming way to people in crisis, and obtaining that important information in an orderly and structured way.

• Do not hang up until directed to do so by the dispatcher. They may be keeping you on the line to relay additional questions that may come in from our first responders.

• What is the suspicious activity? Where did it occur? When did it occur?

How to Describe a Suspect

• Gender
• Approximate age
• Race
• Height and weight
• Skin tone/complexion
• Clothing description (hat, jacket, shirt, pants, shoes)
• Hair color and style, including facial hair
• Eye color and if they are wearing eyeglasses or sunglasses
• Tattoos, scars, birthmarks
• Weapons (gun, knife, stick, hammer, etc.)
• Direction of travel of the suspect if they fled
• Any other distinguishing features (do they walk with a limp, are they carrying something, etc.)
• Suspect's identity (name, home address, phone number, etc.), if known

How to Describe a Vehicle

Remembering the acronym "CYMBALS" may help:

• C = Color of vehicle
• Y = Year
• M = Make (e.g. Ford, BMW, Honda, etc.)
• B = Body style (e.g. sedan, pick-up, etc.)
• A = Additional descriptive features (e.g. missing rear bumper, damage to driver's side, etc.)
• L = License plate number
• S = State of license plate

Also, it helps to know:

• How many occupants
• Last known direction of travel

 

The more descriptive you can be when describing a suspect and/or their vehicle, the better opportunity we'll have to identify and locate them.

Do your best to remain calm during the crime and try your best to keep your wits about you. If the criminal is only after your property (your cell phone, wallet, purse, even your car), comply with their demands and hand it over. Fighting back in this situation may escalate it and turn into a violent confrontation where you end up physically injured or worse. Remember that property can be replaced, but life cannot. If the criminal is attacking you physically, there is no standard recommended response because it is totally dependent on the situation. Trust your instincts and do what they tell you to do.

Do your best to note details of the suspect: their age, gender, race, complexion, body build, height, weight, clothing, tattoos or other marks on their body. What words do they say? Do they have an accent? Do they have a weapon? Do they have an odor about them?  And if the suspect is associated with a vehicle, do your best to note details of it, too: color, year, make, model, any unique features (a roof rack, damage to the back corner, etc.), a license plate number (or even a partial license plate).

Call 911 and report what happened.  We will respond right away to help you, and we will begin a thorough investigation to try to identify and apprehend the suspect as soon as possible.

Being the victim of a crime is an exceptionally traumatic experience that you will likely remember for the rest of your life.  Fortunately, there are a number of resources available for free to help you through the aftermath of the crime. Our officer will provide those resources to you and ensure you understand them. 

Victim Services

The Santa Cruz Police Department provides services for victims of violent crime in the City of Santa Cruz. The advocate provides information about victims' rights and the criminal legal system and makes referrals to local agencies when appropriate. The advocate works with the investigator to ensure that all victims of violent crimes are treated with fairness and respect. 

Marsy's Law (Your rights as a victim of crime under the constitution of the State of California)

Your Rights as a Victim of Domestic Violence & Sexual Assault

Hate Crimes - What You Need to Know to Protect Yourself and Others

There are many things you can do to help Santa Cruz as safe a community as possible.

• First and foremost, please be extra sets of eyes and ears for the police by promptly reporting suspicious behavior to our 24-hour dispatch center at (831) 471-1131 or 911 if it's an emergency.
  
  
• Sign up to participate in the Police Department's free Basic Citizens Police Academy! Visit our Community page for more information.
  
  
• Get to know your neighbors and exchange contact information with them. Agree to help keep an eye on the neighborhood together.

Interested in starting a neighborhood watch program?

• Get involved with your local neighborhood association.
  
  
• Stay in the know by reading our daily Police Report Log to see all the incidents that our personnel are investigating. The media uses this same log to produce their popular "police blotters" in local newspapers; however, they only choose to publish a small percentage of the total incidents. You can see it all right here on our website.
  
  
• Stay up to date with major incidents in town by reading our Press Releases.
  
  
• Apply to become a volunteer for the Santa Cruz Police Department. Interested? Email us!
  
  
• Consider signing up to follow the Police Department on social media, receive e-mails for news releases and critical public safety information, and subscribe to the City's alerts to stay abreast of the latest emergency information.  For more information, and for links to all of these free services, visit our Social Media Connections page.

All public viewing of the Megan's Law Database is arranged through the County Sheriff's Office. Arrangements can be made with Sheriff's staff either at their main office at 701 Ocean Street in Santa Cruz or at any of their service centers. Access to the file requires you to fill out a request form. There is a 900 number available to check names on the database for a fee. The number is 1-900-448-3000. Additional sex offender information is available at the California Attorney General's website. More information is also available here.

WHAT IS A GANG?

As used in this chapter, "criminal street gang" means any ongoing organization, association, or group of three or more persons, whether formal or informal, having as one of its primary activities the commission of one or more of the criminal acts enumerated in paragraphs (1) to (25), inclusive, or (31) to (33), inclusive, of subdivision (e) of 186.22 PC, having a common name or common identifying sign or symbol, and whose members individually or collectively engage in or have engaged in a pattern of criminal gang activity.

WHY DO KIDS JOIN GANGS?

• Acceptance
• Excitement
• To earn money
• Peer Pressure
• Protection
• To Socialize

To learn more, click on the following links:

• Parent Information 
• Gang Clothing & Hand Signs
• School Gangs
• Drug Use
• Proactive Parenting
• Gang Prevention Resource Information (ESP)
• Pride and Pride Program

NOT ALL GRAFFITI IS GANG-RELATED.

While some forms of graffiti are clearly gang-related, much of it isn't.  In areas where graffiti is prevalent, gang and tagger graffiti are the most common types found.

There are four major types of graffiti:

• Gang Graffiti, often used by gangs to mark turf or convey threats of violence.
• Tagger Graffiti, ranging from high-volume simple hits to complex street art.
• Conventional Graffiti, often isolated or spontaneous acts of "youthful exuberance", but sometimes malicious or vindictive.
• Ideological Graffiti, such as political or hate graffiti, which conveys political messages or racial, religious or ethnic slurs.

Gang graffiti, features gang name or symbol, gang member name(s) or nickname(s), or sometimes a roll-call listing of members.  Numbers (reference to police codes or gang names), distinctive, stylized alphabets, key visible locations, enemy names and symbols, or allies' names. 

Some tagger graffiti may involve creative expression, providing a source of great pride in the creation of complex works of art. Most taggers seek notoriety and recognition of their graffiti–they attach status to having their work seen. Thus, prolonged visibility due to the sheer volume, scale and complexity of the graffiti,§ and placement of the graffiti in hard-to-reach places or in transit systems, enhance the vandal's satisfaction. Because recognition is important, the tagger tends to express the same motif–the graffiti's style and content are replicated over and over again, becoming the tagger's unique signature.

Tagger graffiti is not usually used to mark territory like traditional gang graffiti. Tagging on walls is a competition to those involved. The more a person tags, the more recognition and respect they'll get from other taggers. Taggers are responsible for millions of dollars in damage to private and public property annually.

Have you seen graffiti in the City that you want to report?

Call the Graffiti Hotline at 831-420-5303.

To get information on the City of Santa Cruz's Graffiti Abatement program, click here

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Some information provided courtesy of Imagine Media Solutions and used with permission by SECURE in Clarksville, TN

Loud/Unruly Party Home List

The Santa Cruz Police Department is now providing the community with a list of homes flagged under the Loud/Unruly Gathering Ordinance. If you are a renter interested in learning about homes that have been flagged or a neighbor interested in what is going on in your area please click here for a list of the most recent Loud & Unruly addresses.

The list will be updated every month.  Addresses will come off of the list if they do not have any subsequent Loud/Unruly Gathering Ordinance violations within a twelve month period.