 | The Capitola Police Department is committed to enhancing public safety through various Crime Prevention initiatives, proactive enforcement, public education and our various Community Policing programs. The Police Department has developed a Commercial Security Program, Neighborhood Watch Program and provides Crime Trends through our web site in the form of Statistical Crime Reporting and Crime Bulletins.
The Department’s Commercial Security Program will be headquartered in our new Community Outreach Center at the Capitola Mall. The Department’s Investigations Unit coordinates the Commercial Security Program with close cooperation from Patrol personnel, members from our Volunteers in Policing (VIP) program and business stakeholders from throughout the region. The Commercial Security Program provides the following services:
- Attends meetings and distributes information and services to merchants through the Department’s Merchant Alert Program and Newsletter.
- Conducting crime prevention presentations and inspections.
- Publishes the Capitola Police Department’s Merchants Alert Manual.
- Office Safety Presentations and video training.
- Personal Safety presentations.
- Shoplifting Prevention workshops.
- Robbery Prevention workshops.
- Emergency Preparedness Training.
- Worthless Document Training.
- Drugs in the Workplace Training.
- Bomb Threats Training and Protocol.
- Security Services to include: Security Inspections, Design Reviews and False Alarm Abatement.
The Police Department is in the process of expanding its Neighborhood Watch Program, which currently has over 300 resident members. The Department’s Neighborhood Watch Program is designed to help organize neighborhood residents and provide them with the information, tools and police support needed to enhance quality of life in their neighborhoods through crime reduction and other Community Policing initiatives. The Department helps residents organize into Neighborhood Watch groups, prioritize their concerns and then work with the Police Department and other governmental and private organizations to address their problems.
The Capitola Police Department publishes and posts Crime Statistics and Crime Bulletins for the public's use on its Crime Trends site. Criminal statistics for the City are available on this site as are special Crime Bulletins, which are provided to Capitola residents and merchants to alert them to specific crime problems or suspect descriptions.
The Police Department just received new and improved Child Safety ID Kits for distribution at the Mall, Police Department and Special Events. The kit includes an inkless fingerprint card, DNA sampling swabs and packages and a place for a photo and other descriptive information. The PD uses a Polaroid or digital camera to take photos of children and helps gather the fingerprints and DNA samples (i.e., saliva and hair samples) from the children and then provides the parent with the kit. We also have about 1,000 gunlocks, which we received free of charge from Project Childsafe and the National Shooting Sports Foundation via a grant from the U.S. Department of Justice. The locks are free to Capitola and county residents. to date, we have given away several hundred gunlocks. The Child Safety Kits were purchased with grant funds through our Community Policing Grant.
 
For further information or assistance concerning one or more of these programs please contact the Capitola Police Department at 475-4242. |