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.