OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Belmont Public Safety Committee Meeting - June 16, 2025

City CouncilMonday, June 16, 2025
BodyBelmont, California
SessionCity Council
DateMonday, June 16, 2025
StatusFILED
Video Record

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Transcript — Verbatim
1:45

Okay, welcome everyone.

1:47

If we are here for the public safety committee meeting on Monday, June 16th at the EOC at City Hall.

2:02

Would you find that I will note that the committee is present?

2:06

Beautiful.

2:06

Oh, I forgot to say at what time?

2:08

At two thirty-one, two thirty PM.

2:11

Wonderful.

2:11

So now we shall move to item three, which is special presentation.

2:16

Thank you very much.

2:17

Um today we're gonna honor Antoine Avenir.

2:20

Um I know that most of us in this room have worked with him in some capacity and his uh tenure for his SRO position has come to a close after five years.

2:31

So I'm gonna have Antoine come on out here and I'm gonna embarrass him a little bit.

2:44

All right.

2:45

It is with great appreciation that we recognize Officer Avenida for his outstanding service and unwavering dedication during his five-year tenure as an SRO.

2:54

Antoine began his role as an SRO in May of twenty twenty, and quickly stepped into the challenge of covering all schools on his own.

3:01

Despite increased responsibility, consistently exceeded expectations and remained a steady positive presence in every school he served.

3:17

These were relationships were rooted in trust, respect, and genuine care for the well-being of the school community.

3:23

Throughout his time as an SRO, Antoine received numerous commendations, heartfelt praise from principals, faculty, and staff members.

3:30

All recognizing his commitment, professionalism and impact on school safety and climate.

4:11

So you never got to be you never got to be my SRO.

4:18

My most favorite police officers have been my SROs.

4:23

I counted on them.

4:26

I counted on them regularly, routinely to help me service my community.

4:35

Well, that's the wow.

5:00

Thank you.

5:01

So thank you.

5:04

Congratulations what's next what do you do now?

5:07

I go back to control for a little bit and figure it out there.

5:10

Cool.

5:14

Okay.

5:16

So now we are going to move to item four which is public comments for any items that are not on the agenda just as a reminder this is a small little intimate setting and we want to be able to feel like we can have back and forth conversations but Brown Act really precludes us from being able to do that.

5:35

But at the same time if there are any comments not on the agenda we would love to hear them also know that because we can't have this like back and forth kind of thing know that I'll take notes and if we need to follow up later we will happily do that.

5:55

Not only am I a member of Belmont neighbors against Rice but I'm also a member of Pix and San Mateo County and on behalf of Pix and San Mateo County we are um inviting the public and everyone here today as well to attend our summer in the park which will be at twin pies this Sunday from so I have invitations for all of you that I will be giving back thank you any other public comments we don't we don't have anyone online.

6:29

So then let's go ahead and move to consent basis any questions concerns please motion approved thank you.

6:42

And now it's um item six general business a traffic update who's doing that I am I'm gonna sorry I thought you were going to say it was me and it's me will you say everybody's second look at anything he just did nothing I was like oh no is it me well thank you very much uh for this time just a little bit of a kind of a roundup and some new stuff that we'll be doing regarding traffic safety for the community um and just wanted to give you that outline so next slide please so this is some California statistics um obviously statistics take a while to update so these are from 2022 um but the first line the percentage increase in fatalities for instance is uh statewide it's a statewide um number it's obviously going in the wrong direction it's increasing but the city of Belmont's rank so there's a two-part ranking system um that the state puts out for so we are 47 out of 90 cities that match our population so out of the 90 cities we're at 47 which is a pretty good stat.

8:11

These stats don't fit perfectly because the pedestrian fatalities um are just a very narrow thing but the city of Belmont's ranking is injury and fatality so it's obviously a larger number but it it still is something that should the city should be proud of is at least um addressing and doing citation shopping cars and stuff to to impact that kind of stuff and we'll go into a little bit more on that um another state bit of uh data 61% increase in bicycle fatalities um the city of Belmont's ranking 12 out of 90 there's been a number of bicycle accidents in 2022 but in future um you know we're we're going that numbers being reduced uh with this grant we've seen a reduction in the first two years of the grant that we've had so that's a a benefit um to the community being able to use that money to address that problem and then 77% of pedestrian serious injuries occur when it was dark and it's usually between nine and three when this is occurring obviously pedestrians wearing uh clothing that isn't or lighting equipment that it doesn't isn't helpful can can obviously be um an important problem um but again our ranking in that is based on injuries and and they could be anything from minor complaint of pain to anything but those numbers have also as this 23 24 and now 25 those numbers are all reducing and I'll talk about them in the future but those are kind of just three snapshots of the statewide problem and you know how Belmont is addressing them.

9:50

Can I ask you a question?

9:51

Of course I I just kind of want to understand the numbers so it were better than half the cities so it doesn't it it's kind of difficult.

10:00

So it doesn't, it's kind of difficult.

10:02

So what they say is if you're number one, you have a problem.

10:05

Um if you're number 90, um, you're perfect, but they say anything into the you know, uh 15, 20, 30, 40 range is all kind of because these eight agencies, these cities kind of all fall into similar situations.

10:22

So if you're in that mid-range, um, you know, it's it's acceptable.

10:28

It's when you're in the swing of the single digits, or you know, or you're close to 90, where you know, nothing's going on in your town.

10:34

You know, obviously we have El Camino and we have a lot of very busy roadways that affect that, whereas some cities with the same population could have no roadways that are impacted by that.

10:46

So there's so many variables, but this gives you kind of an insight on you know, something to be proud of 47 out of 90 is a is a pretty good number considering how um kind of busy this whole corridor of San Mateo County is.

11:00

Um, but yeah, that those 90, they're statewide, they're 90 cities that match our population.

11:07

Um so it's it's it's helpful, but it's like any other statistic or data, it's it's only helpful to a point.

11:16

Yeah, that's basically and then the 61% increase in bicycle fatalities.

11:22

Is that going from like do you know how many altogether?

11:28

So every year uh the office of traffic safety and the highway patrol put out a report, and they're just strictly going uh for the statewide fatalities, they show the increase per year.

11:39

So that increase was from 20 to 2020 to 2022.

11:44

So in looking at the numbers, you'd have to break down because you can go on this website, uh, the Office of Traffic Safety, um, and you can pull up your city, Redwood City, Belmont, San Mateo, and you can get the specific data points to your city as well as seeing the overall trends for the state.

12:03

So not more recently in 2020.

12:05

No, because the most current information they have is 2022.

12:09

It just takes so much time to communicate that kind of data to the state.

12:15

Okay, and our rank is 12 out of 90.

12:19

Just for that one specific um point.

12:23

I'm feeling sensitive to this statistic because we do have a community member who is very vocal about his belief that we need to be doing a better job as a city with bicycle lanes.

12:38

I'm finding this a bit.

12:42

It shouldn't be surprising at any point or concerning.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Public Safety█████████████████████████████████████████████55%
Technology and Innovation█████████████16%
Traffic Safety████████10%
Procedural███████8%
Community Engagement███████8%
Mental Health Awareness██3%
Summary of Proceedings

Belmont Public Safety Committee Meeting - June 16, 2025

The Public Safety Committee met on Monday, June 16, 2025 at 2:30 PM in the Emergency Operations Center at City Hall, Belmont. The meeting included a certificate of commendation, a traffic update, the chief's report, and discussions on transparency regarding drones and automated license plate readers.

Consent Calendar

  • The Committee approved the minutes of the February 24, 2025 meeting by motion. No discussion.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • A speaker announced a "Summer in the Park" event at Twin Pines on Sunday, June 22, 2025, inviting the public and committee members.

Discussion Items

  • Certificate of Commendation: Detective Antoine Abinader was honored for his five-year tenure as a School Resource Officer (SRO) from May 2020 to May 2025. He was praised for his dedication, positive presence, and impact on school safety. He will return to patrol.
  • Traffic Update (Captain Armando):
    • Presented 2022 California traffic statistics: a statewide increase in fatalities; Belmont ranked 47 out of 90 similar-sized cities (mid-range).
    • 61% increase in bicycle fatalities statewide; Belmont ranked 12 out of 90, but noted this was baseline data before grant-funded efforts began in 2023.
    • 77% of pedestrian serious injuries occur in dark conditions (9 PM – 3 AM).
    • DUI arrests in Belmont were 5,790, considered high due to El Camino Real.
    • Educational enforcement included a successful "Coffee with a Cop" at Pete's Coffee; next one scheduled July 7 or 8, 2025.
    • Distracted driving: using a phone triples crash risk (not doubles); second violation within 36 months adds a point to driving record.
    • The city received approval for a third year of the Office of Traffic Safety grant (approximately $47,000) for enforcement.
    • A joint pedestrian/bicycle safety enforcement detail with the Sheriff's Office was planned for that week.
    • Committee members expressed interest in sharing distracted driving statistics on social media.
  • Chief's Report:
    • Recognized three employees: Volunteer of the Year Dolores Quig, Officer of the Year Sacope Tonguilala, Professional Staff Member of the Year Jennifer Fedstrom (dispatcher).
    • Acknowledged retired Sergeant Scott Fagley for 37 years of service (including per diem dispatcher).
    • Ian Crow was convicted on 33 felony counts and sentenced to 334 years for a kidnapping case.
    • Suspect identified in the Advantage Park homicide; active arrest warrant.
    • Awarded a one-year mental health grant from BHRS (San Mateo County) for a dual response model (clinician + officer), starting July 2025. Currently facing challenges in recruiting a fully licensed clinician.
    • Provided transparency update on Automated License Plate Readers (ALPR) and drones. The public-facing portal shows vague reasons, but internal audit includes case numbers; the department audits outside agency use. For drones, every flight is logged with reason; used for events like graduations (Carlmont) and Easter egg hunt (assisted in locating missing children).
    • Upcoming community events: Community Academy (fall), Coffee with a Cop (July 8), National Night Out (August 5), and Belmont Centennial (2026).
    • Discussed the weekly "No Kings" protest: approximately 300-350 attendees were peaceful; police took a laid-back ambassador approach, did not deploy drones. Committee member reported positive interactions between protestors and police.
    • Questions clarified that banners cannot be fixed to structures; drones are not used for protests unless situation escalates to emergencies.

Key Outcomes

  • Approved consent calendar (minutes).
  • Received and discussed the traffic update and chief's report; no formal actions required.
  • The third year of the OTS grant was approved externally; committee noted with appreciation.
  • The department will continue seeking a licensed mental health clinician for the dual response program.
  • Upcoming events and enforcement activities were announced.

Meeting Transcript

Okay, welcome everyone. If we are here for the public safety committee meeting on Monday, June 16th at the EOC at City Hall. Would you find that I will note that the committee is present? Beautiful. Oh, I forgot to say at what time? At two thirty-one, two thirty PM. Wonderful. So now we shall move to item three, which is special presentation. Thank you very much. Um today we're gonna honor Antoine Avenir. Um I know that most of us in this room have worked with him in some capacity and his uh tenure for his SRO position has come to a close after five years. So I'm gonna have Antoine come on out here and I'm gonna embarrass him a little bit. All right. It is with great appreciation that we recognize Officer Avenida for his outstanding service and unwavering dedication during his five-year tenure as an SRO. Antoine began his role as an SRO in May of twenty twenty, and quickly stepped into the challenge of covering all schools on his own. Despite increased responsibility, consistently exceeded expectations and remained a steady positive presence in every school he served. These were relationships were rooted in trust, respect, and genuine care for the well-being of the school community. Throughout his time as an SRO, Antoine received numerous commendations, heartfelt praise from principals, faculty, and staff members. All recognizing his commitment, professionalism and impact on school safety and climate. So you never got to be you never got to be my SRO. My most favorite police officers have been my SROs. I counted on them. I counted on them regularly, routinely to help me service my community. Well, that's the wow. Thank you. So thank you. Congratulations what's next what do you do now? I go back to control for a little bit and figure it out there. Cool. Okay. So now we are going to move to item four which is public comments for any items that are not on the agenda just as a reminder this is a small little intimate setting and we want to be able to feel like we can have back and forth conversations but Brown Act really precludes us from being able to do that. But at the same time if there are any comments not on the agenda we would love to hear them also know that because we can't have this like back and forth kind of thing know that I'll take notes and if we need to follow up later we will happily do that. Not only am I a member of Belmont neighbors against Rice but I'm also a member of Pix and San Mateo County and on behalf of Pix and San Mateo County we are um inviting the public and everyone here today as well to attend our summer in the park which will be at twin pies this Sunday from so I have invitations for all of you that I will be giving back thank you any other public comments we don't we don't have anyone online. So then let's go ahead and move to consent basis any questions concerns please motion approved thank you. And now it's um item six general business a traffic update who's doing that I am I'm gonna sorry I thought you were going to say it was me and it's me will you say everybody's second look at anything he just did nothing I was like oh no is it me well thank you very much uh for this time just a little bit of a kind of a roundup and some new stuff that we'll be doing regarding traffic safety for the community um and just wanted to give you that outline so next slide please so this is some California statistics um obviously statistics take a while to update so these are from 2022 um but the first line the percentage increase in fatalities for instance is uh statewide it's a statewide um number it's obviously going in the wrong direction it's increasing but the city of Belmont's rank so there's a two-part ranking system um that the state puts out for so we are 47 out of 90 cities that match our population so out of the 90 cities we're at 47 which is a pretty good stat. These stats don't fit perfectly because the pedestrian fatalities um are just a very narrow thing but the city of Belmont's ranking is injury and fatality so it's obviously a larger number but it it still is something that should the city should be proud of is at least um addressing and doing citation shopping cars and stuff to to impact that kind of stuff and we'll go into a little bit more on that um another state bit of uh data 61% increase in bicycle fatalities um the city of Belmont's ranking 12 out of 90 there's been a number of bicycle accidents in 2022 but in future um you know we're we're going that numbers being reduced uh with this grant we've seen a reduction in the first two years of the grant that we've had so that's a a benefit um to the community being able to use that money to address that problem and then 77% of pedestrian serious injuries occur when it was dark and it's usually between nine and three when this is occurring obviously pedestrians wearing uh clothing that isn't or lighting equipment that it doesn't isn't helpful can can obviously be um an important problem um but again our ranking in that is based on injuries and and they could be anything from minor complaint of pain to anything but those numbers have also as this 23 24 and now 25 those numbers are all reducing and I'll talk about them in the future but those are kind of just three snapshots of the statewide problem and you know how Belmont is addressing them. Can I ask you a question? Of course I I just kind of want to understand the numbers so it were better than half the cities so it doesn't it it's kind of difficult. So it doesn't, it's kind of difficult. So what they say is if you're number one, you have a problem. Um if you're number 90, um, you're perfect, but they say anything into the you know, uh 15, 20, 30, 40 range is all kind of because these eight agencies, these cities kind of all fall into similar situations. So if you're in that mid-range, um, you know, it's it's acceptable. It's when you're in the swing of the single digits, or you know, or you're close to 90, where you know, nothing's going on in your town. You know, obviously we have El Camino and we have a lot of very busy roadways that affect that, whereas some cities with the same population could have no roadways that are impacted by that. So there's so many variables, but this gives you kind of an insight on you know, something to be proud of 47 out of 90 is a is a pretty good number considering how um kind of busy this whole corridor of San Mateo County is. Um, but yeah, that those 90, they're statewide, they're 90 cities that match our population. Um so it's it's it's helpful, but it's like any other statistic or data, it's it's only helpful to a point. Yeah, that's basically and then the 61% increase in bicycle fatalities. Is that going from like do you know how many altogether? So every year uh the office of traffic safety and the highway patrol put out a report, and they're just strictly going uh for the statewide fatalities, they show the increase per year.

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