Scott Seaman, chief of the Los Gatos-Monte Sereno Police Department, says the department's new youth party guidelines could be a step in that direction, though it will probably take some time for them to be accepted.

The "Alive ... and Loving Life" initiative formed after Quesada's death resulted in community conversations about teen partying and drinking. Seaman says that one of the things that the department learned was that teenagers did not have a clear understanding of police action.

"In one of the 'Cops and Kids' discussion groups, there was a discussion of 'Why do you cops always do this kind of stuff when you come to parties?'" Seaman says. "We recognized that teens don't understand what to expect from us, or they have a misperception of what to expect from police ... We also needed to explain to kids what we would expect from them and just put it on paper."

So sergeants Tam McCarty and Kerry Harris set about researching police responses to parties, talking to more students, parents and community members, and drafting a document that would explain the department's role in responding to youth parties.

"We looked at the norm nationwide, as far as the response to parties," McCarty says. "It's pretty much a reactive type of response ... We wanted to look at it from outside the norm, to hopefully be not so intimidating. Obviously the best way to do that is to look at the communication."

The result is the "Youth Party Guidelines" document completed in March. The document explains the department's philosophy in responding to parties, lists the laws most directly related to youth and alcohol, outlines the department's usual party response procedure, and offers other related information.

Perhaps the most unusual element, though, is the establishment of a party notification line. Youth and adults may call the police department's dispatch number to report ahead of time that they will be throwing a party. If the department receives a complaint from a neighbor that is strictly about noise or other nuisances that are not illegal, an officer will call the party-giver to let them know there has been a complaint. About 20 or 30 minutes later, they will visit the scene to make sure the complaint has been addressed.

"As long as there isn't overt criminal activity--drugs and alcohol--we really don't need to go," Seaman says. "We'll call ... to say, 'Because you've registered your party with us, we're going to give you some time to quiet it down. We'll check back in a half hour or so and we'll send an officer by, but we'll give you that level of trust and give you the opportunity to control your own party.'"

McCarty hopes the new policy will prevent the knee-jerk reaction among some youth to jump into a car regardless of whether they are sober.

"The bottom line is that when we pull up in front of a house, kids think it's fun to jump over fences and say, 'The cops are coming,'" McCarty says. "If we don't have to have that approach, the response isn't going to be to run."

Department officials realize the notification line will take some time to get used to.

"I think no one would do that ahead of time," Los Gatos High School sophomore John Gallien says. "If you're going to throw a party that's illegal, you don't want the cops to break it up."

Senior Sean Altman says he would rather be the one to tell the police about one of his parties than have a neighbor do the same.

"This policy helps out teens to have fun but do it within reason," Altman says. "A lot of kids at the high school that I talked to really liked it."

Whenever he or his friends throw a party, Altman says, they make sure nobody drives after drinking. He says teenagers don't want their friends driving under the influence any more than the police do.

"This shows that the cops are on our side," he says. "They're fighting for our cause, too."

Bea Anne Lynch, mother of a Los Gatos High School senior and two graduates, says she intends to take advantage of the notification line for her son's graduation party. She said police have visited her Winterbrook Road home in the past because of noise at parties--one of her sons is in a band--and that she would appreciate a phone call first.

"It's such a waste of the police force," Lynch said. "I can surely understand if you've got them coming out because you're having a party where kids are drinking--trust me, that's not my cup of tea. But I see this as a real positive way to use the police department as we should use them."

Like the police, she too realizes that it will be hard to sell the idea to some young people.

"Kids are drinking," she says. "Let's be realistic here. But I would hope that they would feel safe enough that they could use" the notification line.

Reeta Banerjee, a 10th-grader and Los Gatos youth commissioner, says she thinks the guidelines will gain respect in time.

"If this program's actually working, I think word will spread like wildfire," she says. "Once people start saying, 'Hey, the police aren't really mean,' and people start believing that, kids will tell other kids. If people do call the notification line and ... that's actually helping teens connect with police and understand them more and vice versa, people will tell each other."

McCarty says that will probably only take one positive experience before it has a "logarithmic effect."

"If we get one call and it works, we will get hopefully two calls, then four, then eight," he says. "We have a venue for the kids to know that our intent is not to go out there and spoil their fun."

Dan Fowler, Los Gatos High School assistant principal, says he thinks the guidelines communicate a level of professionalism from the police department that he has always experienced.

"I know that if any of my students are contacted by the police department, it is going to be done with respect and compassion, because I've seen it happen too many times," Fowler says. "I'm real pleased to be working with the chief and his department. They are in the right place, trying to make sure that the kids in our community are safe."

Seaman said he expects to see some kind of result within a year. He says if successful, the youth party guidelines concept could spread throughout the region and beyond. The only other police agency with a similar program is one in Illinois.

"This is a fairly unique document in law enforcement," Seaman says. "It takes a problem-solving, systematic approach to a complex and long-standing problem in this community."

To obtain a copy of the guidelines or notify the Los Gatos-Monte Sereno Police Department of an upcoming party, contact dispatchers at 408.354.8600.