Petaluma to beef up security network after recent stabbing

Downtown cameras that could have captured a suspect were not working.|

The September morning a fatal stabbing in downtown Petaluma sent a shock wave through the city, a network of security cameras in the Keller Street garage that officials believe could have captured footage of the fleeing suspect weren’t functional. The surveillance system is now operational and officials are planning a more comprehensive security network in downtown and at other city facilities.

Still, merchants in the central business district are shaken and some demanded immediate action.

City Manager John Brown said the camera outage was due to an act of vandalism that destroyed a server months ago.

“The replacement of that server waited while the city looked at a number of its other security needs,” Brown said. “The parking garage cameras were put back online, the server was replaced and we are recording what’s going on.”

Police are still investigating the Sept. 10 slaying of 24-year-old Windsor resident Cristian Nunez-Castro in the Golden Concourse walkway between Kentucky Street and the Keller Street parking garage. A second unidentified victim was treated for an arm wound.

Police said the suspected assailant fled on foot, leaving a trail of blood up Telephone Alley to Washington Street that stopped in the Keller Street garage. Police Chief Ken Savano said police are following up on leads, but declined to provide further information about the ongoing investigation. No arrest have been made, he said.

Before the homicide, city officials believe an unidentified vandal broke into an office at the garage where the server for the cameras is stored, destroying the equipment and knocking out the surveillance feed. Brown suspects the cameras had been nonfunctional since late 2016.

Information technology staff believed the cameras were in working order after fixes were put in place about three weeks before the stabbing, Brown said, but the city had apparently been using a trial version of the software and needed to complete the licensing process for longer-term use. The city employee in charge of that process left unexpectedly before resolving that issue, Brown said.

As police attempted to review footage from the early morning incident, officers were shocked to find it was inaccessible, Savano said.

“We were under the assumption that it was recording what was being displayed on the cameras,” Savano said.

Now that the cameras are working, police are looking to expand surveillance throughout downtown, Savano said. Extra patrols have also been assigned to the area. Additional security is not meant to infringe on privacy, but to help cut crime, Savano said.

“When there’s efficient video surveillance, it can reduce crime by 70 to 80 percent,” he said. “Why wouldn’t we try to use video surveillance technology throughout downtown when we’re having problems with vandalism and people defecating and selling and using drugs and all that stuff?”

Trisha Gilroy-Bomar, who’s owned Rapunzel’s Beauty Salon on Kentucky Street for 25 years, said her female staff feels uncomfortable in the garage after dark. An employee reported that a man followed her to her car, while Gilroy-Bomar has noted drug use.

She plans to lobby the city for more security measures, including reinstating an estimated $70,000 annually for a city-funded security guard. Meanwhile, she’s encouraging customers and staff to call police for escort services.

“Everyone is talking about it, saying ‘I don’t want to park in that garage,’” she said. “It’s terrible for business.”

Holly Wick, the president of the Petaluma Downtown Association’s Board of Directors and the owner of Athletic Soles, praised the police department’s move to step up patrols.

The Petaluma City Council on Monday approved a $119,000 project to bolster security systems at City Hall, the Lucchesi Park Community Center and the police headquarters. The package, which Brown hopes will be installed by June 2018, will include enhanced video surveillance and controlled access to doors. Brown said it’s part of a multi-phase effort to limit access, including securing doors and adding a central check-in kiosk at City Hall.

Expanding security comes after a spate of threats from former city employee and vandalism, including tire slashing, to more than 20 city-owned vehicles, as well as thefts occurring between 2012 and 2016. Savano declined to elaborate on the nature of the threats, but he said there are no current public safety concerns and no arrests have been made or injuries reported.

“This is more of a best practice when it comes to homeland security and it’s long overdue,” Savano said.

City Councilman Mike Healy echoed the sentiment.

“We’re catching up to where we should be,” he said.

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