Santa Rosa police unit focused on downtown area adds officers

The six-officer unit tasked with safeguarding downtown Santa Rosa is fully staffed again, more than a year after two officers on the team were diverted to help fill shortages in the agency’s patrol ranks.

The positions were reinstated to the unit, which works out of a substation in the downtown core, in early January after a boost in patrol staffing freed up two officers for the downtown team, said Santa Rosa Police Sgt. Jonathan Wolf, who oversees the group.

The specialized unit responds to calls for help in the downtown square and surrounding neighborhood as they are called in to dispatchers, but also works with business owners to resolve long-standing problems such as drug use or quality of life problems, Wolf said.

The added officers will allow the team to staff patrols on weekends again during the day, as is the case during the work week, Wolf said.

“It’s a significant difference,” Wolf said of the added officers to the agency’s Downtown Enforcement Team. “In general, you’re going to have officers that will be able to respond quickly and are less likely to be tied to another call.”

The team supplements officers assigned to the agency’s downtown patrol zone, one of nine, as needed. One to three officers patrol the city’s downtown beat at any given time, with staffing increasing during busier days and times, Wolf said.

The addition of the officers to the downtown unit follows the closing of several businesses in the area and comes at a time when business owners have expressed increased concerns that patrons no longer feel welcome downtown, in part because of homeless people who take refuge there and rowdy weekend crowds.

Chris Bowser, the general manager for Beer Baron Bar & Kitchen next to Old Courthouse Square, said the added police presence was sorely needed in the area, which he described as experiencing a low point following a series of violent altercations at local bars.

Bowser, who previously worked at the now-closed Stout Brothers Pub on Fourth Street, said his former employer got “bad PR” after two men were injured last summer in a predawn stabbing in the parking lot behind the pub.

“There’s a sense of insecurity down here, so I’m glad they’re taking it more seriously,” Bowser said of police. He noted that he had seen police officers drop by the business a handful of times in the past two months, visits he welcomes and hopes continue.

In addition to patrolling the downtown area, the team also functions as the in-house experts on homeless-related policies, sometimes taking calls from officers seeking advice on how to handle difficult circumstances, Wolfe said. The agency often taps officers on the unit to help with homeless encampments throughout the city as well as the downtown area, he added.

“We’re gauging the situation, we’re determining if a crime has been committed and we’re determining if the person needs some type of assistance,” Wolf said.

You can reach Staff Writer Nashelly Chavez at 707-521-5203 or nashelly.chavez@pressdemocrat.com.