Full Notification

Over the past six months there has been a significant increase in gang-related shootings in East Palo Alto and Menlo Park.

Through our shared intelligence, we have linked over a dozen shootings and several murders in East Palo Alto and Menlo Park to a violent feud between two street gangs: the “Taliban” based primarily in Menlo Park and the “DaVill” based primarily in East Palo Alto.

In response to this violence, the East Palo Alto, Menlo Park and Palo Alto police departments have partnered to implement a multi-agency violence reduction plan called, Operation SMART (Strategic Multi-Agency Response Team). This plan compliments efforts already underway in both jurisdictions.

As a part of Operation SMART, the three police agencies have agreed to:
 Coordinate gang and narcotics enforcement operations targeted at the Taliban and DaVill gangs.
 Form the Homicide & Aggravated Assault Response Team (HART) to respond to all shootings related to these gangs.
 Conduct a “Social Network Analysis” of Violence Victims and Offenders for both gangs and all related shootings and murders.
 Conduct two “Operation Ceasefire” call-ins for both gangs in January involving all three police agencies, community leaders and service providers.
 Refer members of both gangs that are on probation and/or parole to the David Lewis Community Reentry Program.
 Use Social Media to send a unified message of non-violence and seek community support and involvement.

East Palo Alto Police Chief Ron Davis will provide the community an overview of Operation SMART at his upcoming “Chat with the Chief” on December 11th.

Click here for a copy of the Operation SMART Violence Reduction Plan: http://content.govdelivery.com/attachments/topic_files/CAMENLO/CAMENLO_175/2012/11/28/file_attachments/177681/Operation%2BSMART%2B-%2B27%2BNov%2B12%2B-%2BFinal__177681.pdf