Fresh in the permanent police chief role as of March, Jayson Rutherford gave his first yearly update to Scotts Valley City Council, which includes two former cops, at its April 15 meeting.
Scotts Valley Police Department responded to 5,581 calls for service in 2025. And, for emergencies, officers responded in an average of two minutes and 45 seconds. The department also took on 19,843 “self-initiated activities.”
Of course, there was no tornado this year to comment on in the update, like with former Chief Steve Walpole Jr.’s last term.
But, the department did add three new staff members (two officers and a dispatcher) and three new Explorers to its Police Explorer program (bringing the total to five).
A dog named “Sam” was recruited to the K9 unit, the first time this position was staffed since April 2024.
SVPD made 3,472 traffic stops (a 28% increase over the prior year) and has been targeting e-bike enforcement. Hit-and-runs were up to 26 after dropping to 17 for a couple years, after coming in at 21 in 2021.
While rape, auto theft and arson all saw at least 50% increases, compared to 2024, all those categories were still in single digits, so the percentage may not be as big of a shift as one might initially worry (though rape jumping from 3 to 8 still looks significant when the number was at 3 for the past few years). On the other hand, a burglary number of 3 jumps out, since this was at 37 in 2021 (though, larceny increased 1% to 178). And there were still under 10 auto thefts.
Arrests were down 9%, from 508 to 463.
The homicide rate remained constant—at 0.
This, of course, is Vice Mayor Steve Clark’s wheelhouse, as he served as deputy chief of the Santa Cruz Police Department.
“This is a great report,” Clark said. “Our overall Part 1 crimes are reduced. There’s a couple spikes in some categories, but those numbers aren’t huge. Percentage-wise they are—but the numbers themselves aren’t. And I just wanted to congratulate you.”
He did have a question about traffic incidents with injuries.
“This is kind of an interesting anomaly,” Clark said. “We have an increase (in 61%) of our injury accidents. But I see the department is working hard on that, because our citations are up, as well. So, clearly we’re out there, we’re working those accident-prone areas. We’re doing the enforcement.”
He asked how many of those accidents involved e-bikes. Rutherford said last year there were three e-bike collisions, and none of those involved another vehicle.
The AB 481 report about military-style equipment included multiple reports of SVPD actually using their tactical gear. It has 16 patrol rifles and five “less lethal shotguns” in its inventory.
“Officer deployed his department issued AR15 during the search of a residence that had been burglarized,” states one entry. “Officer deployed his department issued AR15 during the search of a business that had been burglarized,” reads another. As well as seven “deployments” by SVPD officers assigned to a regional task force called SACCACT.
Capt. Scott Garner noted “deployed” doesn’t mean “discharged.” And there were no “use of force” incidents involving either the AR15s or the “less-lethal” shotguns (which shoots a 12-gauge bean bag-type round).
However, an entry for June 3, 2025, says this: “SVPD Officers had to dispatch an injured deer on La Madrona near Silverwood.”
SVPD was proposing to replace three outdated Bushmaster rifles with three new Colt rifles.
“The total cost of the three new Colt rifles completely outfitted with sling, Aimpoint optic, and tactical light will be $5,990,” the departmental report states.
Clark made the motion to approve the annual policy and the acquisition of the three new guns. Councilmember Krista Jett seconded this, and the motion passed unanimously.
