Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Public Safety Model topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Sunnyvale officials defend integrated public‑safety model as department readies new station and hires
Summary
City leaders and Sunnyvale Public Safety command staff described the city’s integrated police/fire/EMS model, recruitment and staffing gains, capital projects including a redesigned Station 2 and new emergency operations center, and said the model gives the city operational flexibility.
Chief Fano, chief of Sunnyvale Public Safety, told a neighborhood meeting that Sunnyvale’s fully integrated public safety model — in which officers are trained to provide police, fire and emergency medical services — remains central to the city’s approach and gives the department flexibility to respond to varied calls.
The model, Fano said, requires officers “to be proficient in all three disciplines every single time they go on duty.” He and other command staff credited the model with allowing the department to move personnel between patrol, fire and medical response as operational needs change.
The department described recent staffing and capital changes that it said will support response and training: the council approved funding to add three sworn public safety officer positions; the department is budgeted for 204 sworn positions and currently is staffed “right around 200”; design of a new Fire Station 2 is complete and construction is expected to start soon; the project is described as a regional training center that will house evolutions and joint training across jurisdictions; the city also invested in a new emergency operations center and remodeled public safety headquarters.
Deputy Chief Dan Castor, who oversees fire operations, said the Station 2 design includes training acreage and a reinforced concrete training tower. He said the department expects construction to take about 18 months to two years and described a staged construction plan to avoid interrupting emergency operations: build and occupy the new station, then demolish and rebuild the training center on the old site.
Command staff said the city has ordered four new fire engines scheduled to arrive in early 2026 and emphasized that mutual‑aid deployments nationwide improve local readiness. Chief Fano noted the department sends personnel to major incidents outside Sunnyvale and debriefs returning crews to apply lessons learned locally.
The department and elected officials repeatedly pointed to performance measures the city publishes as the objective yardstick for staffing and operations. City leaders said residents who want to assess response times should consult the city budget and performance pages.
Ending: Officials invited residents to raise additional questions after the presentation and to use neighborhood programs and published performance measures for further information.
