Community policing booth new to this year
’s event
Though they don’t expect any problems this weekend, Morgan Hill Police are preparing for the Taste of Morgan Hill a little differently this year than they have in the past.
“We’re going to follow standard operations for the Taste, but one of the new things we’re doing is to have a booth ourselves during the event, a community policing booth,” said MHPD Cmdr. Joe Sampson. “We’ll be set up at Monterey and Third Street. It will serve as a point of contact for the public with us, as well as a rally point for our officers. We haven’t done this in the past, but we see this as an opportunity for our officers to interact with the public. It will also serve to present a police presence, which we hope will act as a deterrent to criminal behavior.”
Sampson said the annual festival is “typically a family-oriented event,” and that the police department usually doesn’t have many problems during the weekend. As in the past, extra officers will be on duty to deal with traffic issues, while some officers will be dedicated to patrolling the event itself. At least two officers on bicycles will be in the area throughout the day.
Officers will also man the community policing booth, answering questions from the public and in general promoting a positive police presence.
“We want the community to get to know us, to see our officers as part of the community,” Sampson said. “Also, we want to make sure that if any people out there are inclined to do something, they will see that police presence and think twice about it.”
In years past, the biggest problems of the festival are people having too much fun, Sampson said. Drunk in public is the most “popular” problem officers run into, with an occasional lost child they help reunite with family.
Despite the easy-going nature of the festival, Sampson said officers are prepared for worst-case scenarios.
“We don’t expect problems, but at the same time, we didn’t expect to have two SWAT call-outs in four days, either,” Sampson said, referring to an incident on Sept. 16 and another on Monday when the Morgan Hill SWAT team responded and successfully dealt with a homicide suspect and a man threatening suicide.
“We are a little more keyed-up at this point than we might have been before,” he added. “But we also saw the peaceful resolution of both, and we are prepared to deal with any circumstances that might occur.”
Marilyn Dubil covers education and law enforcement for The Times. Reach her at (408) 779-4106 ext. 202 or at md****@mo*************.com.
