In a sleepy town like Scotts Valley, it’s par for the course that year-to-year crime percentages swing wildly.
If no robberies happen one year, and then four go down the next (as was the case between 2023 and 2024), you don’t want to read too much into the 400% increase. On the other hand, if there’s a 0% change in rape figures, because officers respond to three such incidents for the second year in a row (also what happened), that’s still three too many.
The department is conscious of this aspect of tracking small town crime, so instead they look for trends in the data, considering whether they’re seeing an anomaly punctuating the relative calm of suburban Santa Cruz Mountain life.
On May 7, during his annual report to Council, Scotts Valley Police Chief Steve Walpole Jr. pointed to one particularly worrying trend he wants to investigate a little more.
Walpole, who was recently honored as Man of the Year at the Scotts Valley Chamber of Commerce gala dinner at Roaring Camp, said there’s been a concerning rise in assaults—including assaults on officers.
Assaults rose from 61 in 2023 to 82 in 2024—a 34% increase the chief considers meaningful (it was 48 in 2020).
Perhaps still riding high on his recent accolade (not to mention the report to Council that shows that, once again, no SVPD officers fired their rifle at a suspect), Walpole suggested that, not only would they investigate—and crack down on—any criminal behaviors that could be leading to this result, but he’d also take a look at his own staff to ensure nothing they’re doing is pushing suspects over the edge.
Larceny rose from 124 to 177, year over year (and up from 104 in 2020), but Walpole suggested the recent strengthening of shoplifting legislation will cause this number to go back down next year.
Burglaries dropped from 21 to 10 in the past year. Arson doubled—to two. Auto theft dropped from eight to five. Drug violations dropped from 81 to 55. Total arrests dropped by 3%.
The community had zero homicides again this past year. But it did have a tornado. Walpole decided he had to put a photo of the natural phenomenon on the cover of the official report.
Vice Mayor Allan Timms said, for environmental reasons, he was thankful the long document wasn’t printed out this year.
Graffiti Crackdown
Another thing that’s been happening, however, is the increase in nuisance graffiti around town in recent months. And so, at the behest of Councilmember Steve Clark, a former City of Santa Cruz deputy chief, staff began working on developing a more strict enforcement regime.
The problem is that, while the City can quickly deal with graffiti that defaces its assets, when it appears on privately owned property, it doesn’t really have the tools to force the other parties to clean up the mess.
Under the proposed chapter for the Municipal Code, “property owners will have an obligation to remove graffiti visible from public rights-of-way or public places within 10 days of notification,” according to the staff report presented to Council. “If the property owner fails to remove the graffiti, the City has the right to go on to the property to remove the graffiti.”
All costs would be charged to the property owner.
“Anyone violating the terms of this chapter can be charged criminally,” the item reads. “In addition, administrative penalties have been established in this ordinance for property owners who fail to remove graffiti and people who place graffiti on public or private property. The administrative penalties for property owners is $250 for the first violation, $500 for the second violation and $1,000 for the third and any subsequent violation in a 12 month period.”
The administrative penalties for graffiti on public or private property would be $1,000 for the first violation, $1,500 for the second violation and $2,000 for the third (and beyond) violation in a 12-month period.
As a general rule, the Council tends to be quite supportive of the police department—which, by the way, is now fully staffed up for the first time in decades.
This meeting was no exception.
Councilmember Donna Lind, a former SVPD sergeant (who would go on to present Walpole with his Man of the Year award), joined all the other Council members to rubber-stamp the request for three new rifles.
However, Krista Jett—while not expressing any hesitation for the new graffiti rules—did raise concerns about the burden being placed on property owners in such a short timeframe.
“I understand there’s a 10-day window—grace period,” she said thinking about physically-disabled or financially-strapped residents. “But I just wonder if, down the road, if there will be a need to explore a City-sponsored cleanup kit, or helping property owners through some sort of volunteer cleanup assistance.”
Mayor Derek Timm said he’s discussed the issue with City Manager Mali LaGoe.
“There are actually already a lot of people in town who have asked to volunteer with that, too,” he said. “What was the best way for them to reach out to the City?”
“We have a volunteer program set up through our recreation department,” said LaGoe, adding interested locals who email the City will be plugged into the right place. “We can kind of start to stand-up a volunteer group who is interested in responding.”
Clark made the motion to introduce the ordinance, and the first reading was approved unanimously.
