Woodside town hall: sheriffs cite targeted operations and ALPR data as reason residential burglaries fell to zero in February

Mayor Jen Wall convened a town hall at Independence Hall to address a surge of residential burglaries and to give residents direct access to San Mateo County sheriff leadership, town staff and the county supervisor.

Headquarters Bureau Captain Matthew Fox told the audience the sheriff’s office saw a spike in residential burglaries in late 2023 and into January 2024 but said targeted operations and cross-jurisdictional data sharing drove a rapid decline. “In January of 2024, we had 3 residential burglaries. And in February of 2024, this last month, we had 0,” Fox said, adding that investigators have identified and linked a small number of suspects to multiple incidents.

The sheriff’s office outlined a mix of enforcement and prevention tactics it said helped curb the trend: saturation patrols timed to data-derived hotspot windows; investigative surveillance and arrests; one-week operations that removed eight suspicious vehicles from Woodside in seven days; and expanded information sharing across neighboring jurisdictions. Fox emphasized legal and policy limits on vehicle pursuits for property crimes and said deputies instead use investigative leads to develop arrests.

Panelists highlighted automated license-plate readers (ALPRs), known locally as Flock cameras, as a key investigative tool. Captain Mark Myers and other deputies described several recent success stories in which Flock detections helped link vehicles to multiple burglaries, leading to arrests. The town has 17 active Flock cameras, Myers said, and the county plans to expand coverage in unincorporated areas; Flock’s transparency portal, Myers said, shows summary hits and external access requests.

Assistant Sheriff Ryan Monahan and Captain Fox addressed privacy and access. Monahan told residents the system ‘‘does not capture any personal identifying information’’ and that the county limits access to investigatory uses; panelists said Flock data are retained for 60 days. Monahan also noted that California law forbids sharing ALPR data with federal immigration enforcement.

Residents pressed sheriff leaders on response times and coverage ahead of the town’s upcoming sheriff contract renewal. Several homeowners described experiences in which deputies arrived well after neighbors reported suspicious activity or alarms; one resident said a neighbor called minutes before the back window was broken. Fox and Monahan acknowledged occasional breakdowns, explained how alarm-company call flows and whether a burglary is ‘active’ or a ‘cold’ report affect response priority, and said the office is reviewing specific dispatch anomalies raised at the meeting.

Sheriff staff and town officials offered concrete prevention steps for homeowners: activate alarm systems and learn how to operate cameras, install glass-shatter sensors or security film on rear sliders, join neighborhood communications (for example, WhatsApp groups used by deputy captains), and request a free home-security assessment by a deputy to ‘‘harden’’ the property. Deputies reiterated not to engage suspected burglars and to call 911 with specific details (for example, whether the homeowner just arrived, whether someone might still be inside, or unusual vehicles or behaviors).

Council and staff next steps: town staff said council has asked for a signage proposal related to ALPRs and will return with a recommendation; staff and the sheriff’s office will continue follow-ups on dispatch and coverage questions, and deputies reiterated the offer to perform home assessments.

The town hall closed with Mayor Wall thanking residents and sheriff partners and noting continued coordination on crime prevention and the forthcoming contract discussion.

Ending: The mayor and town staff will collect follow-up information (a signage recommendation, more detailed response-time analyses and offers for home assessments) and return updates to the council; the sheriff’s office said it will continue the data-driven, countywide enforcement and investigative work described at the meeting.