4.0 GPA

Santa Clara County released their report card on cities efforts related to advertising and display of tobacco products and our efforts to limit our youth's access to tobacco.  Mountain View continues to be a leader in this area and received another A report card.  A lot of people put a lot of work into earning our high GPA.  It is a team effort of Liz Wylie and our department volunteers who visit businesses to educate them and ensure compliance to the Youth Services Unit and our Explorers who run the decoy operations to keep businesses accountable.  So much goes into so many different areas to have a fantastic community such as Mountain View and I am so thankful for the team that addresses this important issue from the Police Department and keeps getting such good grades.

The Big Green Tractor and On My Highway

Jason Aldean is in Mountain View tonight to perform at his sold out concert at the Shoreline Amphitheatre. That is great news for country music fans but could slow down a few motorists in the Shoreline area this afternoon and early evening as they attempt to leave work in the north bayshore area or even get to the concert.  Acting Lieutenant Greg Oselinsky has been doing a great job working with our traffic team, CHP and the Shoreline Amphitheatre staff to make traffic flow as best as we can with this sold out event on a weekday/workday in Mountain View.

My wife recently experienced the gridlock on her way to Oakland taking my daughter to basketball practice the day of the U2 concert and would have appreciated any warning to stay away.  In the spirit of always listening to my wife, MVPD is trying the best we can to notify the community of the possibility of a lot of traffic this afternoon near the Amphitheatre.

We have put it on our Facebook page, have asked the media to help us get the word out, and even we have been tweeting.  We have received some nice feedback from people who heard from us via our Alert SCC system to do community notifications using phone and e-mails for those in the Silicon Valley still not using social media.

We have done our best to reach you, warn you and also manage the traffic tonight.  Enjoy the show!

Welcome Dan Rich

Today the City of Mountain View's new City Manager begins his service with our organization.  Though many times most police officers don't appreciate the impact and influence a City Manager may have upon a police department, the CEO of the City really does make a difference for all of us in the PD.  We are very fortunate to have had Kevin Duggan at the helm for so many years and now to have recruited and landed an experienced and accomplished professional such as Dan Rich.

Dan on his first day of work is taking time to visit us here in the police department and tour the building and our emergency operations center (EOC).  I even cleaned my usually messy desk for his visit.

The Mountain View Police Department welcomes Dan Rich to our MVPD family and looks forward to working with him for many years to come.  For some information on Dan, please see the press release announcing his selection by the City Council.

MVPD Family Member is the new Pleasanton Chief of Police

I only got to work with Dave Spiller for a short time in Mountain View before his career progression took him to the Pleasanton Police Department to be a lieutenant.  He has continued to impress like he did at MVPD and was recently announced as their new Chief.

A number of us from MVPD went Monday to Chief Spiller's swearing in ceremony.  He did an outstanding job in speaking to the packed room and demonstrating why he was the right person for the job.  While he may be Pleasanton's Chief, he will always be part of the MVPD family.

We did get to take a picture with the man of the hour before we left.  MVPD personnel celebrating with Chief Spiller are Captain Max Bosel, Officer Tim Dahl, Sgt. Mike Alexander (ret.), Acting Lt. Greg Oselinsky, Captain Mick Hamlin, Lt. Jessica Nowaski, me and Lt. Chris Hsiung.

Jeff Sato Retires

Last week Lt. Jeff Sato worked his last scheduled shift after over thirty years of service to the City of Mountain View.  Jeff is a true model of community policing for the example he sets in his dedication to fighting crime and commitment to community involvement.  He is a dedicated member and volunteer for the Boy Scouts of America, the Mountain View Buddhist Temple and the Kiwanis Club.

His father as he was growing up owned a barber shop in downtown Mountain View and Jeff has always considered Mountain View home.  He is a true expert in firearms and field evidence collection and rose from explorer cadet in Palo Alto to one of the highest management ranks in our department.

We celebrated Jeff's career at a lunch last week in the police auditorium...the very room he was sworn in as a new police officer over thirty years before.  I will miss Jeff's passion for the profession and his kind heart, but I know Jeff will continue to stay very connected to our department and to our community.

Congratulations Lt. Jeffrey Sato on a wonderful and honorable career of public service!

MADD Recognizes our Officers

Mothers Against Drunk Drivers as well as the Office of Traffic Safety hosted an awards luncheon to recognize bay area officers who have made a significant contribution to the enforcement of impaired drivers.  I had the pleasure of being present to see Sgt. Mike Soqui and Officer Andrew Wong accept their awards.

Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death in the United States. Motor vehicle crashes are the principal cause of on-the-job fatalities and are the leading cause of unintentional death in the United States. Nationwide, the economic cost of motor vehicle traffic crashes exceeds $230 billion annually. Alcohol was involved in approximately 41 percent of the total number of traffic fatalities.  

The efforts that our officers are placing on the enforcement of impaired driving is saving lives.

GaGa for Google

The usual calls I get from Google about visiting dignitaries involves political figures.  Mountain View has become quite the stop for VIPs over the past few years to visit what we are doing here in the heart of Silicon Valley.  The Mayor last night spoke how he hosted a delegation from a City in China this week with a population of over 9 million who was visiting Los Angeles, New York and Mountain View on their trip to the United States.  But this week we were visited not by a famous CEO or anyone with a Secret Service detail, but an entertainment figure who seems to have assisted her career greatly through the use of the technology of a Mountain View company (YouTube/Google).

While most of our dealings with those on MTV are at the Shoreline Amiptheater...Lady Gaga came to visit us at Google here in Mountain View and was interviewed by Marissa Mayer.  Never a dull day in Mountain View.