SCPD's Strange New PR Campaign

The police department has begun a very strange public relations campaign lately and I’m a bit confused about the message I should be getting.
As we all know, the economy is hurting and difficult cuts are being felt in most areas. The City of Santa Cruz is grappling with this reality and has just settled on a medium-range funding plan (massive cutbacks). There is increasingly a large amount of available office and retail space downtown and it wouldn’t be a stretch to say that the economic climate is desperate, which is why I’m a little surprised at what I’ve been seeing from our local police department.

A few weeks ago I attended the Santa Cruz Police Community Town Hall Meeting at the University Inn. It was officiated by a detective in a very expensive looking business suit. There were many police officers lining the room that was sparsely filled with attendees including some folks who represented a couple token community groups. We were welcomed to write down questions on cards and pass them to a very large uniformed officer at the back of the room as the detective spent most of the hour slowly highlighting some of what they’re doing to keep us safe. It sounded like a bad infomercial for the SCPD. A few minutes were given to the spokespersons of the community groups who legitimately represent some concerns of citizens and then, instead of reading from any of the cards that were passed back and forth between snickering cops, two words were written on a grease board at the front: Prostitution and Violence. My card, and I’m sure those of many others were not represented by these words. These may have been the two words written on the board regardless of what the cards contained. No other mention of the cards was made and only a few minutes were given to these two scary words. This is not my idea of a “town hall meeting,” this was a public relations demonstration with no ear at all to the public. It was all mouth.

Over the past week I’ve been seeing the large police sub-station parked at various locations around town. It is a brand new tandem trailer with a fancy portable building on it pulled by a huge diesel truck. It was seen at sitting at local parks and strangely, beside the newly closed Border’s Bookstore downtown. The officers inside said they were there to show off the sub-station , offer residents a tour and to have more of a police presence around town.

What are we to take from this? Crime statistics are level or are dropping but the new police presence is increasing and in an in-your-face kind of way. When one sees a large police sub-station parked right downtown or at a peaceful park and there isn’t a crime being investigated, I’m wondering what message is being sent? Downtown is for meeting up with a friend or grabbing a bite or a movie; it is our town square, it’s where we gather. The police department would like us to be reminded in these tough economic times that we are being well policed. I don’t want to feel well policed I want to feel free. Keep the police station at the police station until there is a crime being investigated or some emergency is happening. If the department wants to have a town hall meeting, come prepared to listen to the people of the community instead of making a mockery of them.
~Brent Adams, Santa Cruz