Around Town … with Robert Airoldi: Gilroy Police enter 10-year contract to upgrade its technology

Body-worn cameras will also activate automatically when an officer unholsters their weapon

By Robert Airoldi

Robert Airoldi

Gilroy police are getting a technological upgrade thanks to the city council unanimously approving a 10-year contract with Axon Enterprises that will allow the public to submit digital evidence to help solve crimes. The $3.8-million contract will give the department access to Evidence.com, where it can reach out to the public to submit digital evidence for certain incidents, among other upgrades.

The contract will equip the department with new body-worn and in-vehicle cameras, tasers and unlimited data storage and the department will receive new equipment periodically throughout the duration of the contract.

The new body-worn cameras will also activate automatically when an officer unholsters their weapon or activates their vehicle’s emergency lights, greatly reducing the possibility of an officer forgetting to turn on their cameras. The cameras also allow an officer’s supervisor to view the footage in real-time remotely, Capt. Juan Rocha told the city council at their June 19 meeting.

Rocha also said the Gilroy department is one of the last in the county that still physically delivers video evidence to the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office. The new technology will mean they no longer have to drive evidence to Morgan Hill or San Jose.

“The 10-year contract will ensure we have modern-day technology that will increase the safety of our officers and our transparency efforts with the community,” Rocha told the council.

The multi-year drought may be over after last winter’s deluge of precipitation, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t still conserve water. That was the Valley Water Board of Directors’ message after the agency adopted a resolution declaring water conservation must be a way of life in the county. The board also unanimously passed an ordinance with permanent water waste prohibitions to ensure water is not misused, even during non-drought periods.

“Our residents and businesses showed a commitment to water conservation by saving more than 10 billion gallons of water during the drought emergency,” Chair John Varela said. “Now, we are asking the community to work with us to make water conservation a way of life.”

As part of the ordinance, the following water-wasting actions are now permanently prohibited:

• Using sprinklers between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m.
• Causing runoff while watering any outdoor landscape.
• Watering outdoors within 48 hours of measurable rainfall.
• Using leaking plumbing fixtures, sprinklers, or irrigation systems without repairing them after written notification from a retailer or Valley Water.
• Watering non-functional turf at commercial, industrial, and institutional properties, including common areas of homeowner’s associations and multi-family residential properties.
• Washing cars, except by handwashing, by a hose with an automatic shut-off nozzle, or at a car washing facility.
• Washing building exteriors or mobile homes with a hose without an automatic shut-off nozzle.
• Washing sidewalks, walkways, driveways, patios, parking lots, or other hard-surfaced, non-porous ground areas except in cases where health and safety are at risk.

Valley Water’s water waste inspectors respond to reports of water waste and violations of local water use restrictions. Reports of water waste in Santa Clara County can be reported through www.valleywater.org, emailing [email protected], or by calling (408) 630-2000.

Senior students at Mount Madonna School are helping Santa Clara County’s Department of Parks and Recreation monitor forest health in Mount Madonna County Park. This hands-on collaboration is a part of Science with Humanity, an honors science class taught by Nicole Silva Culbertson.

“The health of California’s forest ecosystem is threatened by wildfires, invasive species and climate change,” she said. “To mitigate some of these threats, the state is monitoring and actively working to reduce biofuel (through field breaks) and removing invasive species. This is a long-term project in which Mount Madonna students will be involved in monitoring and recording the presence and coverage of native and invasive species and rate of vegetation growth.”

This is an excellent opportunity for local students as it’s real world science work and they are contributing and making a difference in their own community, she said.

“They get to participate and learn first-hand how ecologists and scientists work to help protect and support the health or our own environment especially as it pertains to mitigating the effects of human induced climate change,” she said.