Msg from Officer Clark

Mr. Martinez,

Some of the incidents that I have read indicate that the people in your neighborhoods are very mindful of their surroundings and willing to make their presence known to the crooks. For their involvement, I do applaud them. Often times people will turn a blind eye to suspicious behavior if it does not directly involve them or their property.

A pattern that I have noticed, with not only the Vista group, but with other citizens in the community, is their inability to make personal contact with a live human being at the Police Department to report this ongoing suspicious activity. It is my opinion, based on what I have read, that these neighbors should call "911" to report the aforementioned activities.

Calls to the Police Department are prioritized then given to Patrol Officers in the order of the priority. For example, suspicious persons tampering with, or casing vehicles and/or properties for a Burglary / Robbery as previously described is a Priority 1 call and at the very least, depending on the details, a Priority 2 call. Officers are usually dispatched to those calls immediately. And, even though our manpower has being negatively impacted, we can usually arrive at an emergency call within a couple of minutes.

The best way to assist us during these Priority 1 and Priority 2 calls is to take up a position of advantage, where clear observations of the suspicious behavior can be made by the caller and immediately call "911" to relay their observations to the Police Dispatcher. Explain to the Dispatcher that you see people acting suspiciously in your neighborhood and describe the suspicious activity. For example, "There are three people out in front of my house smashing a garbage can into my car, vandalizing my car."

The Police Dispatcher will immediately send a Patrol Officer while asking a series of questions of the caller. The Officers will get the updates as they respond to the call and calm, diligent witnesses are an invaluable resource for the responding Officers.

Callers should be mindful that there may be a circumstance where "911" just keeps ringing. This will be stressful for the caller and the Dispatcher. We used to have 5 Dispatchers in the Communications Center at peak times of the day, now with budget cuts there are generally 3 or 4 Dispatchers working and one critical incident ties 3 Dispatchers up, so keep watching the crook, let the phone continue to ring and if possible write down some notes, e.g. licence numbers, vehicle descriptions, suspect descriptions, etc.

Property can be replaced, human life cannot, so I would advise against confronting the crooks. Most crooks we deal with in Vallejo are armed with either guns or knives and they could care less about how they treat a good Samaritan who is looking out for their neighbors property. So again, the best help for responding Officers is a good witness. Again, if you believe that you are watching a crime in progress and your instincts tell you to call "911", then call "911."

If you awake to find your vehicle has be Burglarized or stolen, unless you just saw it happen you should call on the 648.4321 number and go through the mind numbing maze of recordings. I too dislike having to use similar systems, unfortunately that is what things have come to. I hope this information is able to provide some type of assistance when calling the Police Department. Please feel free to forward any other questions or comments people may have. Thank you.


Brett Clark #436, Sergeant
Community Liaison
Vallejo Police Department
2 Florida Street
Vallejo, CA 94590
Office (707) 553.7218
FAX (707) 649-3519
E-mail BClark@ci.vallejo.ca.us