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The FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program, property crime includes the
offenses of burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft, and arson. Stockton California is
consistently ranked among the top cities in the nation for violent crime and property crime per
capita. Stockton is the 13th largest city in California covering over 65 square miles with over
300,000 in population. With the recession in 2008, Stockton experienced over 4,200 homes in
default or foreclosure and became one of the largest cities in United States history to file
bankruptcy in 2012. The unemployment rate is 9% compared to the national unemployment rate
of 4.1% and the poverty rate is at 17.7% compared to the national poverty rate of 12.7%. A
biannual census taken in January 2018 shows the number of unsheltered homeless residents in
San Joaquin County increased from 2015 to 2017, with Stockton bearing the most severe brunt
However, property crime within the city of Stockton has had a consistent decline since
2008. In Stockton, there was a total of 17,955 property crimes in 2008 compared to 11,634
property crimes in 2016 resulting in a 36.7% decrease. The following chart shows property
crime by type and the decreases in property crime from 2008 compared to 2016:
In 2016, U.S. households experienced 15.9 million property crimes—a rate of 119.4 per 1,000
households (BJS 2017). Stockton is 48% higher than the state's mean and 54% higher than
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The department has leveraged a centralized wide range of ongoing efforts across the city
to include collaborations with coalitions to combat blight along with crime. In addition, since
the recession and bankruptcy, SPD has been working on restoring personnel resources and has
increased sworn personnel from the nadir of 320 in 2008 to the current levels of 485 to
compliment the 227-professional staff. Together they handle over 400,000 calls for service
Over the last several years, the Stockton Police Department has integrated several
intelligence-led policing (ILP) strategies with intense focus on overall crime due to being
selected as one of the six pilot sites participating in the National Initiative (NI). This initiative is
a collaboration with the Department of Justice and designed to build partnerships and improve
trust in the community. While researching what strategies they have implemented, consideration
was given toward the inclusion of technology, shift in predictive analysis and the partnerships
with the community. The technological ILP strategies implemented include expansion of
technology through adopting ShotSpotter, Real Time Crime Center (RTCC), Body Worn Camera
Program, in-car cameras and a collaborative of predictive analysis. As early adopters of Real-
Time Policing, they shifted their practices to be more data-driven and dedicated to evidence-
based practices.
ShotSpotter allows the department to have instant and accurate situational awareness to make
better informed decisions by providing improved situational intelligence. It also assists with the
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investigative process and prosecutions. The technology has a specialized acoustic system that is
able to triangulate a location based on the amount of time the sound travels to the sensors that are
placed throughout the city. Based on algorithms, the information is analyzed at the review center
by analysts on whether they classify as gunshots and the information is sent in real-time to
officers working the beat. “We’re employing comprehensive initiatives to address this and are
integrating our police strategies and tactics to provide the gunfire data and intelligence we need
to combat gun violence and related gun crime” (Business Wire, 2013).
The RTCC streamlines data and information and more effectively manages voice, video and
data inputs and translates them into the most critical intelligence to distribute directly to law
enforcement officers for a more proactive response (Fox, 2014). This can include video, arrest
records, photographs, information from national crime databases, 911 logs to provide a real-time
operational view. While the BWC technology provides a level of accountability and bolsters
transparency to increase public trust, it also provides evidence in police involved incidents that
was once very limited prior to the BWC technology. Currently, all SPD officers deployed are
equipped with the BWC and several other allied agencies are also equipped with both BWCs and
in-car cameras.
SPD uses all of the data provided through these examples of ILP to be combined with Project
intelligence and data to forecast crime (area-based) and deploy resources (Womack, 2017). This
is widely used at SPD and for use with Operation Ceasefire, an evidence-based violence
reduction strategy, where they identify those most at risk to be involved in a violent crime and
uses it for person-based focused interventions. Additionally, they educate the community
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Business Watch groups, and use social media to both garner data collection through tips as well
The ILP strategies and evidence-based data is shared, analyzed and disseminated through
Information, Communication, and Planning (ICAP) meetings with key personnel. From the
intelligence gleaned from datasets coming in from all the touch points, resources are shifted and
deployed to interrupt and prevent violence through presence, education and focused
enforcement. Results are analyzed for effectiveness and used to inform future strategy
development (Womack, 2017). In addition, the chief of police, Eric Jones, has developed
listening sessions which are a smaller and more personalized version of community meetings or
town hall sessions. From these sessions, he is creating increased trust and hearing specific
concerns of the community to provide that information into the bigger collection of data for
analysis.
Out of the intelligence derived from the various points of information, it was also just as
important to take an evidence-based approach and make some internal adjustments relative to
training. They were able to refine a policing philosophy now recognized as Principled Policing.
This innovative approach resulted in expanded work with both the State Attorney General’s
Office, through its 21st Century Policing Working Group, and the U.S. Department of Justice -
National Initiative for Building Community Trust and Justice (Trust and Justice.org, 2017). In
addition, they have trained personnel in procedural justice and implicit bias.
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Efficacy Evaluation
Part I on property crime, it was important to look at the correlation in the overall utilization of
technology with human capacity from both internal members of the organization and those of the
community along with partnerships to determine effectiveness. Research was also conducted on
the availability of information on victimization and self-report data on property crimes in the city
of Stockton.
Although, there was no specific data available from National Incident-Based Reporting
System (NIBRS) or anything specific from the city of Stockton or the police department, data
was extrapolated from an Operations Report and Data Analysis SPD report conducted in 2010.
One of the datasets reviewed was the total number of calls the beat units received annually which
was 197,638 with approximately 542 incidents per day. Of this number, 68.9 percent were
initiated by Other which was defined as driven by citizens, and 29.1 percent were police
initiated. Within this larger dataset, there were several categories and nineteen percent of events
were crime-related with property crime 65 percent of that number (ICMA, page 57). As this was
the most relevant information specific to correlate self-reporting, it was surmised that the volume
of calls driven by citizens in the area of property crime could translate to self-reporting versus
Reviewing the benefits of some of the technological aspects of SPD’s ILP, the
ShotSpotter technology in the first nine months of the implementation in 2013 reduced gun
violence in target areas by over 50%. The technology assists in overall real-time policing to
isolate incidents of gunfire that can then be relayed through the Real-Time Crime Center for
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further analysis and connectivity to possible investigations. For example, a car with occupants
was fired at in an intersection. There were two people shooting at the car with only the car
struck by the rounds. Responding officers found eleven expended .45-caliber shell casings at the
scene. An investigation led to the arrest of two suspects that day who later pleaded guilty
(Newswire 2013). Both received prison time and probation. Also assessed was the overall
effectiveness of the technology and data provided in Forbes showed that there were large
The Real-Time Crime Center (RTCC) creates a clearinghouse of information for analysis
that can become intelligence driven for evidenced-based policing. The integration of the
LexisNexis Crime Map highlights hotspots throughout the city and provides analytics to both the
public and the police. As Stockton was looking for ways to maximize resources while facing
deficits in staffing resources and budgetary funding to reduce crime, they utilized the RTCC to
process data to make more informed decisions on resource allocation. Among the facets of this
model. Stockton Police Department has been using Forebode since 2014 and have phased it into
implementation. Together analysts and officers, along with command staff and community,
identify trends and activity per specific districts. "Technical assistance is really the big one and
that comes down to crime analysts, more software hardware data driven approaches we can
apply to mapping out where our violent crime is looking at our trends, who is responsible,"
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(Jones, 2017). Collectively, all the intelligence is then shared at Information, Communication,
the intelligence processed through the RTCC was assessed. As human intelligence is a necessity
to the success of these collective ILP strategies, Stockton Police Department’s participation in
Operation Ceasefire and the Safe Community Partnership has reduced high rates of gang and
youth gang violence. These partnerships bring together criminal justice agencies, social services,
faith leaders and organizations for outreach. Through this collaboration, they have identified that
the majority of violent crime in Stockton is committed by a small percentage of the population.
Combining strategies that shape focused resource allocation, with identifying individuals/groups
that have a higher probability of violence/crime, SPD has improved outcomes. Due to these
partnerships and strategies, Stockton reduced gun homicide by more than 43% between 1998 and
2001.
From March through May 2016, the department saw a 40% to 60% reduction month-to-
month in the selected zones for violent crime. During that same time period, there was a 20-30%
drop in property crime (American Security, 2016). The strategy around Operation Ceasefire and the
Safe Community Partnership has evolved from a primary focus on deterring serious gang and youth
gun violence, to a comprehensive approach that combines deterrence with workforce training,
employment, and other services which impacts all crime within Stockton (Justice.gov). In
addition, between 2013-2016, SPD hired new employees with sworn staffing levels surpassing
420 — the highest level since 2009. These staffing gains, combined with the ILP strategies has
helped Stockton realize significant and steady annual decreases in its overall crime rate, reaching
Conclusion
A 2013 Stockton community survey in high crime neighborhoods found that 35 % do not
feel police legitimacy in SPD and that 40% of SPD are not unbiased in their policing.
Additionally, only 30% would actively help SPD and 60% might report an incident to the police
(Stanford 2014). The SPD’s four prong approach of enforcement, partnerships, intelligence and
communication has cultivated ways to involve the community that give them a voice, neutrality
and builds trustworthiness in both the police and the community. “Strong relationships of
mutual trust between police agencies and the communities they serve are critical to maintaining
public safety and effective policing. Police officials rely on the cooperation of community
members to provide information about crime in their neighborhoods, and to work with the police
The efforts SPD is taking to create the reconciliation and transparency with the
community is critical to increased trust from the community. The term dark figures has been
widely used by criminologists to represent the gap between the true extent of crime and the
amount of crime known to the police. The primary sources of this gap are the inability of police
to observe all criminal activity, and the reluctance of crime victims and witnesses to report crime
to the police (Mosher, 91). The assessment of the evidence based, data driven ILP strategies
implemented by SPD are proving to be a move in the right direction. While violent crime is still
persistent, these strategies are increasing SPD’s capabilities to connect with the community,
reshape old policing paradigms, improve policy decisions and reduce both violent and property
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