Los Gatos, Saratoga residents unite over concerns about potential policing partnership

After the first reading of a proposed law enforcement agreement between the Los Gatos-Monte-Sereno Police Department and the city of Saratoga, residents voiced their concerns regarding the cost of the department’s expansion and usage of automatic license plate readers.

Councilmembers in Los Gatos and Saratoga heard a proposed contract for the Los Gatos-Monte Sereno Police Department to extend service to Saratoga during their respective council meetings last week. Although Saratoga renewed a five-year law enforcement contract with the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office last month, each of the cities can leave the contract with one year’s written notice. The Los Gatos-Monte Sereno Police Department offered to provide law enforcement services beginning Oct. 1, 2027. The town worked with Meliora Public Safety Consulting and Matrix Consulting Group to develop a possible transition study and potential costs. According to Los Gatos Monte Sereno Police Chief Jamie Field, the partnership gives Los Gatos the opportunity to create a stronger, deeper and more resilient police department, while Saratoga has the opportunity to join an established full-service municipal police department with local presence, access to leadership and strong community engagement.

“What we are proposing is to deliberately build a larger, integrated municipal police organization serving three adjoining communities with additional staffing, supervision, investigative capacity, dispatch technology and town support added before that additional responsibility would be assumed,” said Field at the Los Gatos council meeting on Sept. 15. “We’re talking about adding capacity before adding responsibility.”

The expansion would require the addition of 16.5 full-time positions, consisting of seven sworn officers and 9.5 employees providing professional support. Field further broke down the makeup of the additional personnel: four patrol officers, one motor officer, one school resource officer, one detective and two community service officers. Field added that a captain liaison representing Saratoga would help connect the city to department leadership. She also requested that Saratoga provide a workspace to give officers a service point to meet community members and file reports.

Administrative services director Kristina Alfaro said the cost of the contract would be $9.7 million a year. Saratoga would be expected to pay around $337,000 every year for 10 years to cover startup costs like hiring new officers; project management; and consulting, legal and labor services. Starting Oct. 1, 2027, Saratoga would only have to pay for nine months of service and startup recovery, which would cost around $7.4 million.

By comparison, Saratoga’s renewed contract with the county sheriff’s office cost $10.6 million and is expected to increase by 8% in the next fiscal year, coming up to around $11.3 million, according to Saratoga’s administrative services director Ryan Hinchman. According to Saratoga’s comparison of law enforcement services agreements between the sheriff’s office and Los Gatos-Monte Sereno police, the ongoing cost to contract with the sheriff’s office based on annual rates and service levels may change.

Field said Saratoga would have access to a full-service municipal policing model, which includes dispatch, investigation, traffic enforcement, victim follow-up, records, evidence, school engagement, community programs, technology and emergency readiness. The region would be divided into four beats based on call volume, with two beats overlapping with Saratoga. The police department said they aimed to respond to Priority 1 calls within five minutes, Priority 2 calls within 10 minutes and Priority 3 calls within 15 minutes.

However, Saratoga would be unable to exit the partnership before June 30, 2030. After that, either party can terminate the agreement with 12 months notice. The initial term of the contract is scheduled to end in June 30, 2037 with the option of a five-year renewal.

The response from residents in both areas was mixed.

Some Saratoga residents spoke favorably of partnering with the Los Gatos-Monte Sereno Police Department at the Saratoga council meeting on Sept. 16. A speaker referred to as JJ noted that Los Gatos and Saratoga had partnerships for recreation services and between the high schools and envisioned the two places becoming closer. Another speaker named Michael, who has lived in the city for 50 years, spoke highly of the “proven concept” of policing in Los Gatos and Monte Sereno.

“I think it makes all the sense in the world to merge together,” Michael said.

Some Monte Sereno and Los Gatos residents came to the meeting in Saratoga to speak to the success of the department’s community policing model. Jonathan Knowles, president and chairman of the board of the Los Gatos-Monte Sereno Police Foundation, a nonprofit organization that allows residents to donate to support police initiatives, seemed almost giddy at the possibility of bringing Saratoga businesses and residents into the fold.

“This partnership with the Los Gatos police department isn’t only about the services and technology,” Knowles said. “It’s an invitation for Saratoga to have a meaningful voice in shaping how public safety is practiced in your city.”

However, many of the public comments during Saratoga’s council meeting on Sept. 16 and town hall on Sept. 19 were opposed to switching providers. Many seemed pessimistic that the Los Gatos police force could hire enough officers before Oct. 1, 2027. Others emphasized the long history of sheriff’s office service in Saratoga. On Sept. 19, a woman gave a tearful testimony of the timely response of sheriff’s deputies after her house was broken into six months ago.

During the Los Gatos council meeting, many residents were also apprehensive about the expansion. A resident named Tim M. noted the high startup and ongoing costs of the potential partnership. According to Los Gatos adopted 2026-27 budget, the police department makes up 40.43% of the town’s expenses. Another resident noted during the Los Gatos council meeting that Los Gatos-Monte Sereno Police Department has struggled with staffing continuously.

“Get your own house in order. Fully staff your own police department. Get your costs under control so it doesn’t take up 40% of the town budget before you even consider adding another city,” the resident said over Zoom on Sept. 15.

In Los Gatos, several Los Gatos High School students spoke out of concern that a policing partnership between Los Gatos and Saratoga would lead to the reactivation of automatic license plate readers in Saratoga. They were concerned about mass surveillance tracking their movements, lack of privacy and security breaches leaking information to federal and external law enforcement officers.

According to the Electronic Frontier Foundation’s Atlas of Surveillance, there are 33 Flock cameras in Los Gatos as of July 2025. Saratoga has 72 Flock cameras, seven of which were accessible by the county sheriff’s office until Santa Clara County ended their agreement with Flock in February. It would be Saratoga’s decision to enable the Flock cameras again. According to Field, the Los Gatos-Monte Sereno Police Department audits its automatic license plate readers every 30 days.