Santa Cruz Public Works Director Mark Dettle modified his 'Keep Santa Cruz Weird' bumper sticker after the Feb. 27 shootings.
As the wax on the memorial candles slowly runs out, many Santa Cruz residents have been talking about change. And three weeks after Santa Cruz’s violent crime spike that started with a drive-by homicide and culminated in the shooting of two SCPD officers on Feb. 27, words are becoming actions. Here are five signs of change in the Santa Cruz landscape:
STICKER SHOCK: It was only a matter of time, but we found our first “Keep Santa Cruz Safe” bumper sticker last week, on a car driven by city public works director Mark Dettle. He takes his daughter’s car out for a spin once a month to keep it running while she’s away at college, and decided her black-and-white “Keep Santa Cruz Weird” bumper sticker could use an update. All it took was a sticky label, clear tape and a red marker for what he calls a “quick fix.” “I don’t think ‘weird’ is unsafe,” Dettle says. “I just thought in respect for public safety and what we’re trying to do, that was a better message to get out there.”
SIGNINGS OF THE TIMES: Two new email petitions are offering city council advice on how to make Santa Cruz a safer place while the city’s addressing violence, theft and drug abuse problems. According to the “Together for a Safer Santa Cruz” petition, started by an anonymous group, “Fear and frustration from these very real issues lead to ineffective reactive responses, quick-fix solutions and the scapegoating of the most vulnerable populations in our community.” A newer “Not on My Watch” petition, started by Steve Schlict of Take Back Santa Cruz, takes a more direct approach. It states participants will only support city leaders who “make public safety their top priority.” That petition has over 570 online signatures as of press time. Take Back Santa Cruz will march on March 26 at 5pm from Harvey West Park city hall to deliver the petition to councilmembers.
NOT ALWAYS THE BEST MEDICINE: The Planet Cruz comedy show set for this week has been cancelled, perhaps not surprising when one learns Sgt. Loran “Butch” Baker, one of the officers killed in last month’s shootings, was working on the show. Baker directed the opening segment for comedian and Planet Cruz organizer Richard Stockton. “Basically, I showed up in my space suit, and [Capt.] Steve Clark, the videographer, showed up,” Stockton says. “I brought a script, and Butch said ‘you don’t need that.’” Ticket sales for the show, which was booked for March 23, were high, but Stockton postponed the show to honor Butler and Baker and give Santa Cruz time to mourn. “Comedy is about timing,” he says. The show will probably happen in October, once Stockton returns from a summer tour.
FUNDRAISING BLITZ: Simply Hair on Carmel Street is giving $15 haircuts on Saturday and Sunday, with all proceeds going to the memorial college fund for the families of the fallen officers. They aren’t alone in the cause. Larry Bernstein of Cypress Health on East Cliff is giving 30-minute “clothes-on” massages for a $50 suggested donation to the same scholarship fund for the officers’ children. Take Back Santa Cruz is selling “Never Forget” t-shirts dedicated to Butler and Baker for $100 with profits going to the fund. The fund is also featured front and center on the city of cityofsantacruz.com and has raised more than $230,000 so far.
SECOND LOOK: With realignment a year and a half underway, people are asking if AB 109, which sends some nonviolent criminals from state prisons to county ones, is making California less safe. The jury’s still out. At a recent AB 109 meeting, Watsonville Police Chief Manny Solano and Capitola Police Chief Rudy Escalante mentioned there have been recent increases in property crimes locally and statewide. It’s possible there’s been a national spike, but data isn’t in yet. County probation officer Scott MacDonald, who chairs the AB 109 oversight committee, doesn’t think AB 109 is the issue, because people who would be on parole are now on probation. Santa Cruz Neighbors’ Debra Elston, who was at the meeting, says she noticed increases in petty crimes in December. “These broken windows, these little petty crimes are our quality-of-life issues in the community,” she says. “If you can fix the broken windows and the little things, the big things hopefully won’t happen.”
