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Santa Ana honors COLT team for encampment cleanups, outreach
Summary
The City of Santa Ana recognized the Quality of Life Team (COLT) for cleanup and outreach work, citing tens of thousands of service requests and thousands of arrests and tons of debris removed over the past year.
The Santa Ana City Council on the dais recognized the city's Quality of Life Team (COLT) for year-round outreach, cleanup and enforcement work that city leaders said addresses chronic encampments and public-safety complaints.
Mayor Meskwah praised the multi-department effort, saying the team brings together the police department, public works, code enforcement, the city attorney's office, parks and recreation and contractor Landscape West to respond to quality-of-life reports. "In the past year alone, 16,207 encampment-related service requests were submitted through the My Santa Ana app," the mayor said.
The mayor and others quantified the work: they said the city removed about 1,500 tons of debris citywide and that the team recorded more than 1,800 arrests, including roughly 140 felony arrests. A COLT sergeant told the council the unit operates most days from about 6 a.m. until 10:30 p.m. on weekdays, with coverage into the evenings and reduced weekend hours.
Police and city staff emphasized that COLT's work includes outreach and service referrals as well as enforcement. "It's not just about law enforcement and taking people to jail. It's about connecting them with services," the police chief said during remarks.
Council and staff members asked residents to use the city's nonemergency dispatch or the My Santa Ana app to report problem locations, and leaders said the city will continue to refine how teams respond to encampments and related concerns.
The recognition was ceremonial; council members and COLT supervisors said the presentation highlighted the day-to-day work performed by officers and partner departments rather than announcing any new policy.
The council later took up unrelated business items and voted on consent calendar items and other measures.
