CODE RED: For Our Kids' Safety
 
Everybody has seen the headlines, "Shooter on School Campus Kills Three."  Unfortunately those kinds of headlines are seen all too often in the news. Sunnyvale law enforcement and educators have come together to find ways to protect our children on school campuses. We call the program CODE RED.

Every school in Sunnyvale gets CODE RED training every year and most agree to have a Code Red drill. During this training we instruct school staff on how to barricade their classrooms and protect their students. They are also given the tools to make snap decisions as well as instructed on the proper evacuation techniques.

Students participating in an annual CODE RED drill

During a drill "CODE RED DRILL" is announced over the loud speaker. Teachers and students then fly into action. Teachers lock the doors. Student and teachers then work together to barricade their classroom doors. Once the doors are barricaded they build an interior barricade to hide the children.

Eventually law enforcement officers along with school administrative staff go to each room in the school to inspect how well rooms have been protected. Officers open the classroom doors to see how innovative teachers have used items in their classrooms to block the entry. Officers ensure that window shades are closed, lights are off and the children are silent. They also hope to get a chance to peek into the room to see how well interior barricades have been constructed to hide and protect the children.

An example of creative barricading in a classroom

By instituting the CODE RED process on a regular basis, we ensure that students and teachers know how to properly and calmly respond in the case such an event should ever occur. We want to make sure that we never have one of those terrible headlines in our city.

Between those calling for help and the Public Safety Officers responding to the scene, there are the people of the Sunnyvale Public Safety Communications Division. With less than two dozen personnel in the Division, they serve as a primary answering point for the Department, 24 hours a day.

The Public Safety Dispatcher is responsible for assessing the nature of each call received and ensuring the most appropriate response is being sent. As responders drive to the scene, the Dispatcher is also capable of providing potentially life-saving instructions to the caller, taking advantage of every second to help make a difference for those calling for help.


A Public Dispatcher hard at work responding to 911 phone calls
 
In 2008, Communications Division personnel provided excellent service to the Sunnyvale community. They processed over 183,000 telephone calls, nearly 36,000 of those being incoming 911 calls. Approximately 93% of the 911 calls were answered within 10 seconds, a performance level in keeping with state and national standards.

A rigorous quality improvement program is also used to audit performance, ensuring the highest levels of training and professionalism are maintained by all personnel. Using an internationally adopted protocol for assessing emergency medical calls, the Dispatchers achieved a 97.68% Overall Compliance rating in 2008 - a level of excellence comparable to the best Dispatch agencies in the world.
 
A proper and timely assessment of the nature of the call establishes a foundation of excellence, the positive effects of which can be traced throughout the entire team response - from the initial 911 call to a patient's arrival at the hospital, or a suspect's timely arrest, or a fire knocked down with minimal damage to life and property. The Department's dedication to this process, to our community and to our responders is a testament to our personal and professional commitment to excellence.

 

2008 Sunnyvale Crime Summary Report  

Public Safety has just completed compiling the Crime Summary Report for 2008. This report is based upon property and violent crimes reported to the FBI each year. The City's crime rate in 2007 was 2,062, and in 2008 the crime rate decreased to 2,037. Although there was an overall decrease compared to last year, we did experience increases in Aggravated Assaults and Arsons.
 
Public Safety is working, via crime analysis, to determine why these crimes increased. In the meantime, we will continue to deploy Officers who will focus on suppression/enforcement, while simultaneously, the Crime Prevention component of DPS will continue their efforts in providing programs and public education. For more information on crime statistics and analysis in the community go to crime.insunnyvale.com.