Petaluma PD Deploys Community Impact Response Team

PETALUMA, CA — The Petaluma Police Department has created and launched a specialized patrol team called the Community Impact Response Team —or CIRT.

CIRT is "a highly visible, uniformed and proactive policing team tasked with addressing emerging community crime and safety challenges," the Petaluma Police Department announced Friday in a news release.

"The primary responsibility of the team will be to provide unencumbered proactive street enforcement and creative problem solving where they are not assigned to routine calls for service, allowing them opportunities to reduce crime, increase traffic safety, improve quality of life, and engage with the community we serve," police said.

The new team is flexible and adaptive to streamline community safety problems by addressing people, places and issues that create the highest number of calls for service, affecting the community.

CIRT began in July 2022 and was formed with funds from Measure U, a half-cent sales tax increase passed by Petaluma voters in November 2020.

Currently, the CIRT team consists of two officers and one sergeant. The team has already handled more than 200 calls for service since July.

The police department plans to expand CIRT in January 2023 to include four officers and a sergeant.

"CIRT will focus on street-level, quality-of-life issues including narcotic enforcement, street racing, illegal sideshow activity, catalytic converter thefts, apprehension of wanted individuals, and frequent/high visibility patrols to address increases in calls for service in downtown Petaluma," police said.

Although CIRT will focus on these specific proactive street enforcement activities, it will also spend time addressing crime trends and supporting special events and Patrol Operations.

"As the team moves forward with intelligence-led policing efforts, we need the help of our community and we welcome your input and encourage the community to reach out to us with areas of concern," Petaluma police said. "We want to thank all of our community-based organizations who work collaboratively with us to address community issues and we look forward to creating long- and short-term problem-solving strategies."