Residents report sophisticated burglaries; public asks council to bar ICE and town manager centralizes review of federal requests

Residents used the council’s verbal‑communications period on April 7 to raise urgent public safety and civil‑liberties concerns. Two developments drew sustained public attention: allegations of coordinated, technologically enabled burglaries and repeated public calls to restrict federal immigration enforcement activity on town property.

Burglaries described as coordinated and sophisticated: Resident Mafi Gali told the council her home and a neighbor’s had been burglarized in incidents she described as coordinated and fast. She said the intruders “used wireless signal jammers to disable our security cameras,” targeted bedrooms and selected high‑value items, and completed the break‑ins in less than 10 minutes. Gali said police have no active leads and asked the council to increase visible patrols and provide a written update in the coming weeks.

Public concern about ICE activity and town property: Several speakers urged Los Gatos to follow neighboring cities in prohibiting federal immigration enforcement agencies from using town property or town resources. Jeff Suzuki asked the council to adopt a local law that would bar federal immigration enforcement from staging on town property, saying the town should “unequivocally state that this town will stand by the constitutional rights of its residents and visitors.” Other speakers asked the council to place the topic on a future agenda for fuller debate.

Town manager directive: The town manager announced an administrative directive issued March 26 that centralizes review of discretionary federal immigration enforcement requests in the town manager’s office. The directive instructs staff to route requests for access or use of town property to town management for evaluation of public‑safety considerations and to determine whether the request should be approved, denied or brought to council for a policy decision. The manager described the approach as a way to balance the town’s obligations under the California Values Act with public‑safety needs such as trafficking investigations.

Next steps and council response: Councilmembers did not adopt a local prohibition or ordinance at the meeting. Several members acknowledged residents’ safety concerns and noted staff will evaluate operational responses to burglary reports and continue interagency coordination; the town manager’s directive will centralize decisions about federal requests and can be used to bring contested requests to council for policy consideration.

What residents asked for: Increased visible patrols, an update on police investigations and better information on neighborhood‑level options (e.g., resident camera networks that can share data with police). Some speakers also asked explicitly for the council to adopt a town policy prohibiting federal immigration enforcement from using town property; councilmembers and staff said the town manager’s central review process will be the first operational step and the council can choose to return the topic for a full policy debate.