The Davis Police Department told the Police Accountability Commission on Dec. 1 it will increase enforcement and coordination for large events — with a particular focus on Picnic Day — and outlined steps it uses to plan and respond to large gatherings and downtown public‑safety concerns.

The chief said the city uses a risk‑assessment permitting process that asks organizers about expected attendance, alcohol, layout and past incidents and can require conditions such as fencing, private security, or contracted extra‑duty officers paid by the event promoter. "The purpose of police involvement in any planned, especially a large scale or complex event is protection of life and safety, maintain work, enable safe event operations, rapid response if there's an emergency," the chief said. He added that contracted off‑duty officers work under city equipment and uniform policies and are paid at standardized extra‑duty rates by the event sponsor.

Why it matters: Picnic Day draws about 70,000 visitors and typically produces dozens of simultaneous, largely unpermitted gatherings across the city. The department said those conditions make perimeter controls and typical bag‑check protocols impractical and that it has historically declined permits for Picnic Day to avoid endorsing privately organized off‑campus events.

The chief described the operational tools the department uses for larger, permitted events: incident command structures and event action plans modeled on ICS, mutual‑aid calls to regional partners, pre‑designated rapid‑response teams, drone (UAS) surveillance for situational awareness, and coordination with EMS and fire for medical surge and staging areas. He said mutual aid is usually informal and that outside agencies typically are not reimbursed unless an emergency declaration triggers federal cost recovery.

Commissioners pressed for specific deterrence tactics and hotspot tracking. The chief said locations vary year to year, and social media can shift gatherings rapidly — creating a "whack‑a‑mole" dynamic — but the department is improving early notifications and "scout team" approaches to get ahead of emerging gatherings. When asked about sexual‑assault reports around Picnic Day, the chief said precise counts require records checks but estimated incidents were "definitely under 10" in recent years.

On downtown safety, the chief reported that calls for service in the downtown core have risen and that while robberies declined (from 10 in 2022 to 5 in 2024), thefts and overall calls increased. He said a high‑visibility downtown lead officer works extended shifts to check in with businesses and coordinate services; the officer is not assigned primarily to calls for service but to proactive engagement. The department also works with the Yolo County District Attorney’s office on a data‑driven intervention that holds frequent, low‑level repeat arrestees for arraignment to pursue diversion or treatment options.

The chief framed a two‑pronged approach: enforce the law when it is broken, and expand outreach and connections to services for people with untreated serious mental illness or substance‑use disorders who are visible downtown. He told commissioners the department lacks adequate involuntary treatment tools and more treatment capacity is needed, and that the city continues to coordinate with UC Davis on messaging and enforcement expectations leading up to Picnic Day.

The commission asked staff to pursue earlier and more in‑person outreach to campus organizations and to consider monthly check‑ins with police leadership in the months before Picnic Day. The department said it will ramp up joint communications with the university and begin targeted engagement as the April event approaches.

The commission did not take a formal vote on new regulations at the meeting; the briefing was informational and followed by public‑forum Q&A.