San Jose police to sweep local streams in new pilot program

As part of a new pilot program to reduce crime along local waterways, police will patrol creeks and rivers in San Jose.

According to a bulletin from CEO Norma Camacho to the agency’s board of directors, the Santa Clara Valley Water District will pay San Jose $200,000 for an eight month pilot program. Under the pilot, which launched May 2, officers target crime taking place along Coyote Creek, the Guadalupe River and other waterways, and provide the water district with monthly reports.

A number of homeless people live in encampments along the river, and Valley Water workers are tasked with cleaning up encampments to reduce contamination to creeks.

But, Camacho wrote, “In recent years, there has been a growing concern about the potential health and safety risks that staff and volunteers face due to criminal activity along local waterways.”

In a statement to this news organization, Camacho cited homeless encampments as a particular problem.

“In recent years, we have seen increasing criminal activity associated with encampments along our waterways,” Camacho said. “Valley Water staff has been threatened with violence and encountered potentially dangerous dogs, leading to our request for more police and security. This program provides a means to safeguard staff and volunteers as they seek to undertake stream stewardship and maintenance activities.”

And while SJPD has brought back its Street Crimes Unit, without the Valley Water money, SJPD “cannot support a proactive approach to improve the safety of Valley Water personnel and volunteers along local waterways…The program is vital to provide a safe environment for staff and volunteers to undertake stream stewardship activities and discourage re-encampments.”

Police will provide “added targeted enforcement,” said Lt. Elle Washburn, in special operations.

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DA: Officers cleared in fatal shooting of man who ran over San Jose cop last year As part of the program, police are working with the water agency to identify where to focus their efforts. Officers patrol the areas one day every other week. According to the bulletin, police will give Valley Water information about their activities, including arrests made and citations issued, “so that Valley Water can warn its employees, contractors and volunteers working in those waterways.”

According to the memo, officers are referring any homeless people they find during their sweeps to “the appropriate city or county agency, or social service provider.”

“We are not there to remove people from their housing,” Washburn said. “We are not there to throw things away.”

On the first sweep in May, Washburn said, the team spent time near Olinder Elementary School near Coyote Creek, an area that had generated multiple complaints, and made a number of arrests for crimes like possession of methamphetamine and burglary tools. Police also found a stolen car. When they go in, officers bring a first aid kit and Narcan, to revive people who might have overdosed on an opioid.

“This is not the creek cleanups of yesteryear,” she said. “This is completely different.”

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