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Redwood City residents shared concerns about school security, racial profiling, a lack of homeless services, under-policing and other public safety issues during a first ever town hall meeting hosted by the city's Police Advisory Committee (PAC) on Oct. 12.
An estimated 125 residents of all ages attended the committee's town hall, at the Redwood City Police Activities League and over Zoom. For over an hour, PAC members facilitated conversations among residents on four key topics: mental health intervention, homeless services, community-police relations and police activities. Translation services were available for all Spanish-speaking participants.
“The town hall will give us a chance to confirm that we are looking at the right topics and to understand more perspectives on what safety looks like in our community,” Committee Chair Jim Hartnett told the Pulse before the event.
Formed by the city council in March 2021, the 11-person committee acts as an advisory board to the police chief. Among its responsibilities: create an annual work plan in partnership with staff from the office of the city manager and the chief of police. The town hall was organized in an effort to bring community members into the conversation around policing and help shape the advisory group’s vision for the coming year.
Police Chief Dan Mulholland, one of several Redwood City police officers in attendance, said it was critical for the public to “have a voice, to share what you feel is important and relevant to public safety and police service delivery.”
He described public safety as a partnership built on trust between law enforcement and the community.
One of the major issues raised during the meeting was how best to address mental health crises, from a public safety and community wellness perspective.
Last December, in collaboration with several other cities, the city launched a Community Wellness and Crisis Response Team pilot and hired a trained clinician to accompany police during mental health calls.
Residents who attended the town hall, though overall unaware of the pilot program and community wellness crisis line, were generally supportive. Citing growing mental health needs and increased police-community conflict, attendees spoke in favor of an ongoing relationship between police and mental health experts.
“I think this program should continue under the police because there are so many mental health problems and conflicts between citizens and police,” one woman said.
Another resident wanted to make sure that use of clinicians does not compromise public safety.
“My concern is that I think it’s a great idea for a mental health professional trained to respond to calls as long as it’s not at the expense of public safety and being properly staffed,” said Lori Krause. “I don’t think a civilian should be responding to calls without law enforcement there.”
At the same time, residents argued that police shouldn’t be responding to people who are unarmed and mentally ill with violence or weapons and should be better trained and equipped for crisis prevention.
The pilot’s mental health clinician, Patricia Baker, who participated in the town hall, said that from her perspective, it “seems to be working effectively to have me out there. But again, the community needs to decide.”
Concerns around mental health issues and homelessness often go hand-in-hand, several residents noted, calling for the city to do more for its unhoused population. They were in favor of directing additional resources to the pilot program, including more staff as well as wraparound services, such as showers, laundry, rehab and housing services.
Larry Broussard said that he’d seen police officers make an effort to help the unhoused residents and approach them without aggression. Former City Council member Janet Borgens agreed, adding, “Many police carry water and other things to offer to homeless people.”
However, she worried that important information and resources were not reaching the people in need. “Do we need more money?” she asked.
Officer Erik Ottersen said that outreach workers from local nonprofits, such LifeMoves and Project WeHope, were responsible for getting information out to people living unhoused. He added that a new program in partnership with LifeMoves launched Sept. 30 and enables people to call a non-emergency first responder line (650-780-7118) to connect Redwood City residents experiencing homelessness with one of five on demand shelter beds reserved at the Maple Street Shelter every day.
Among the youth, however, perception of how police officers treat the homeless populations was much less favorable.
“I’ve seen the cops destroy the homes that people built for themselves,” one speaker said, criticizing the city’s handling of forced evictions during encampment clean-ups.
They called on the police to be more compassionate towards people suffering from mental health issues. Cops need to “learn how to listen,” one younger resident said, while another reminded the police not to treat people in crisis like they’re “crazy or…aren’t [human].”
At the same time, others worried about the risk that people experiencing homelessness or mental health crises posed to themselves and to the community.
“Some of the homeless people, they’re really dangerous,” a woman said. “I’ve seen them over and over again, and I want to see them getting the help they need.”
Lupe Guzmán, principal of Hoover Elementary School, said that homelessness near the Woodside Road on-ramp has grown in recent years as people who “don’t have a space for themselves…take the space that they can.”
While sympathetic to their situation, she said that homeless populations near the school “puts our kids at risk.”
Residents feel less safe
Overall, residents described feeling less safe in Redwood City in recent years, which they attributed to a number of factors including understaffing of the police force, insufficient traffic enforcement and growing security issues in public places like Sequoia Station and city parks.
“Redwood City’s changing, and it’s scaring me and a lot of people. We had our car mirror punched. I’ve almost got run over by kids on bikes,” an attendee said.
Redwood Shores resident Steven Tsujisaka said he attended the town hall to demand more policing of his neighborhood, where he said crime has been on the rise. This spring, in response to growing demands from residents, the police announced plans for a Redwood Shores substation pilot, though an opening date has yet to be determined.
Several parents also expressed concern about a lack of safety in and around school campuses. One mother said that, because of increased gangs, drugs and homeless activity near Hoover’s campus, “it’s not safe for our kids who are in the school or the boys and girls clubs.”
Describing a recent shooting that occurred near the campus and injured her son, the mother said that she’s been working closely with the superintendent, county supervisors and other parents to find a solution.
“I’m asking that it be more safe for our kids,” she said, calling for more cameras, security guards and changes to the school landscaping to prevent people from gathering nearby.
Guzmán corroborated the mother’s account and told the Pulse that there had recently been issues with non-school members causing trouble near campus. She worried that it might be the result of growing tensions between local gangs.
Broussard, a longtime crossing guard at the school, agreed with their concerns, adding that he was particularly worried about a lack of traffic enforcement on school grounds.
“I’m not happy because of what’s going on outside,” he said, tears in his eyes. “We need help outside the school. … We need an officer out there.”
Broussard said he was also worried about the high juvenile incarceration rate, an issue raised by participants in one of the virtual groups as well. His son had spent significant time behind bars, he said, an experience he wouldn’t wish on anyone else.
“Young kids incarcerated—that’s only setting them up for failure,” he said. “Once you get to juvenile, what’s your second home? Jail then prison.”
How to improve police-community relations
There was some disagreement about the ongoing role that Redwood City Police should play in the community. While some residents described the police as a necessary and effective tool of public safety, others expressed deep fear and distrust of law enforcement.
One man said he has never had an issue with the police but would like to see more officers employed to decrease response times to calls.
Another man in the same discussion group criticized the police for what he described as “making up their own rules.” He claimed he’d been stopped by a couple of officers who “addressed [him] and started giving [him] directives” but allegedly refused to share their names and badge numbers when he asked. “[They’re] not following their own policies,” he said.
Nearby, a group of Hispanic women talked about living in fear of domestic violence and not knowing where to go for help. One woman said she continued to suffer from the “psychological pain” of years of abuse, which she claimed the police had ignored. “This is something police need to be more conscious of,” she said.
Another woman agreed, adding that while many women suffer from such abuse, Latina women especially are afraid to call the cops because they don’t trust law enforcement to intervene appropriately. Rather than dealing with the abuser directly, both women said, police might instead advise the families to “fix their own problems,” leaving the women with nowhere else to go.
Participants in the youth groups were particularly vocal about what they saw as rampant racial profiling on the part of police.
One young speaker said said many members of their family were frequently “pulled over because of racial profiling especially in richer neighborhoods.” Another described disproportionate and ineffective patrolling of their neighborhood; though police are often seen driving by or knocking on doors, gunshots and crime are still high.
Residents generally agreed that greater transparency, public outreach and visibility within the community are key ingredients for increasing trust between law enforcement and residents.
Several in the youth group urged the police to interact with citizens more in a way that appeared less threatening and violent.
“Cops went to my school today with AKs and pistols during my test and didn’t really say anything after,” one student said.
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