Portola Valley's Town Safety Tips

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See Something, Say Something

If you see something or hear something suspicious, stay calm and report it. For an emergency: call 9-1-1. For non-emergency business, call San Mateo County Sheriff: 650-363-4911, ext 1.

Be an extra set of “eyes and ears” for law enforcement. Your involvement and ability to quickly and accurately report suspicious activity or a crime can have a great impact in keeping our community safe.

Portola Valley’s crime prevention program is a combined effort involving individual resident action, home security, organized Neighborhood Watch programs, and the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office, among other things.

Starting or Joining a Neighborhood Watch Team

The Neighborhood Watch program is a cooperative action between community residents and the Sheriff’s Office against burglaries and other neighborhood crimes.

To start a Neighborhood Watch team on your block or for information on existing teams, please email Ali Taghavi, Communications & Sustainability Management Analyst, or call 650.851.1700 Ext. 221.

Materials for starting a Neighborhood Watch program are available here.

About Door-to-Door Soliciting in Portola Valley

If a solicitor comes to your door, ask them for their town permit. If they do not have one, send them away and call 9-1-1 (or non-emergency 650-363-4911, ext. 1) with a description of the person and vehicle. For more information, please see Soliciting in Portola Valley.

Stay Informed

To enroll in San Mateo County's Community Alert System (SMC-Alert), please click here. We encourage all residents to subscribe to this free alert notification system to receive important information via their email and/or cell phones during urgent or emergency situations.

To receive Town updates on public safety, sign up for Town Safety eNotices here.

For recent crime statistics, see Portola Valley Crime Statistics.

Keep Your Home Safe While You’re on Vacation

Alert your immediate neighbors about your absence.

Submit a SMC Sheriff's Office Vacation House Watch Request: The San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office provides vacation house checks when you’re out of town. To schedule, call 650-363-4911, ext. 1 or file your request here.

Go to the bottom of the page and click on “to begin your report, click here.” Then select the second to last option, “Vacation House Watch Request.”