Overall crime rate in Lodi continues to decline

The number of auto thefts, larcenies and aggravated assaults reported in 2019 were down from the previous year, and the overall crime rate in Lodi saw a small drop, according to police.

The Lodi Police Department on Tuesday released its 2019 Annual Report, detailing staffing levels, reported crimes and arrests, among other statistics, that occurred last year.

“It’s exciting for us to get this out, because it gives the public the chance to see exactly what the police department does on a year-toyear basis,” Lodi Police Chief Sierra Brucia said.

According to the report, the crime rate in Lodi was 28.1% last year, down from 30.14% in 2018. Property crime saw a decrease from 25.93% in 2018 to 24.57% in 2019, and violent crime was down from 4.21% to 3.54% in the same period.

Brucia said highlights of the report include the significant drops in homicides between 2018 and 2019, as well as the staffing levels reached last year.

In 2018, Lodi experienced one of the highest rates of murder in its history with nine homicide victims. Last year, officers responded to just three homicides.

Last year, the department had 74 officers in its ranks, a level Brucia said hadn’t been seen since 2008. He said much of the ability to increase staffing was due to Measure L, the half-cent sales tax approved by voters in 2018.

“That allowed us to get out there and staff functions that we sponsor, as well as add officers to patrols,” he said. “We were able to add two motor officers to patrols, which allowed for more investigations, which is what the residents had been asking for over the course of several years.”

Other highlights in reduced crime included the drop in auto thefts, which decreased from 342 in 2018 to 285 last year.

Aggravated assaults dropped from 169 in 2018 to 130 in 2019, and larceny — or thefts of personal property — decreased from 1,001 to 989 from year to year.

Lodi police officers made 3,958 arrests, of which 885 were for felony crimes and 40 were gang related. In addition, officers responded to a total of 22 gang-related incidents, down from 58 in 2018.

The 2019 arrests also netted 52 firearms, of which 39 were handguns and 13 were rifles or shotguns. Officers also removed 50 pounds of marijuana off Lodi streets valued at as much as $75,000, as well as 200 ounces of heroin valued at as much as $350,000.

The department’s dispatch center received a total of 128,471 calls for service, of which 31,180 were 9-1-1 emergency calls. Some 3,667

of those calls were also transient related.

In addition, the report reveals that most of the calls received — a total of 2,260 — were made in the 5 p.m. hour.

Along with the reduction in part one crimes, Brucia commended the amount of volunteers working with the department, including chaplains and the Partners Unit.

The department currently has nine chaplains that volunteered more than 90 hours of service and pastoral care to community members, public safety personnel and their families during tragic circumstances last year.

Additionally, the department’s 62 Partners officers volunteered 23,866 hours, equal to 11.5 full-time staff members and $668,808 in salaries.

Through their efforts, the Partners investigated 4,510 abandoned vehicles, issued 877 citations, conducted 634 vacation house welfare checks and had 280 vehicles towed.

While most crimes had been reduced last year and staffing levels increased, Brucia said 2020 and beyond looks to be uncertain for the department as the COVID19 pandemic has put a temporary hold on hiring new officers.

He said the department will be keeping a close eye on sales tax figures in the coming months to see if any Measure L funds will be allocated for additional resources. Currently, the department is taking necessary precautions to keep its staff and the community safe from COVID-19 exposure, he said. That includes providing masks and gloves to officers, as well as constantly cleaning patrol cars and equipment.

“Overall, we’re happy with the way the police department is moving forward with our transition,” he said. “(Former police chief) Tod (Patterson) was a great leader, and he built this department, in the five years he was chief, that has great people, supervisors and volunteers. He built a department that looks like it will be very successful in the future.”

To view the department’s 24-page report, visit lodi.gov/DocumentCenter/View/3522/2019-ANNUAL-REPORT.

Violent crime in Sacramento County fell in 2019 as well, according to a report from the Sacramento Bee.

Law enforcement agencies in Sacramento, Yolo, Placer and El Dorado counties reported 8,322 violent crimes in 2019, down 6% from 2018. However, there were 96 homicides reported last year, up from 86 the previous year, according to the Bee.

The number of violent crimes fell in 16 of the Sacramento region's 20 largest law enforcement jurisdictions from 2018 to 2019. Declines were steepest at Galt, South Lake Tahoe, Auburn, Placerville and the El Dorado County Sheriff's Department the Bee reported.