San Fernando Police release 2024 Safety Insight: response times improve; larceny and auto theft rise, ALPR credited with recoveries

The San Fernando Police Department presented its 2024 Safety Insight Report to the City Council, highlighting a reduced overall response time, changing crime patterns and several new programs and grants.

Chief Valdez told the council that the department’s overall response time fell from about eight minutes in 2023 to roughly three minutes in 2024 after standardizing call types, additional interdepartmental training and hiring three new dispatchers. He cautioned that the department has not yet completed a long-term statistical comparison under the new call‑priority cataloging system.

Crime patterns: the department reported declines in burglaries compared with 2019 but increases in larceny (shoplifting and other property thefts) and auto thefts. Violent‑crime totals remained small; the department recorded two homicides and a drop in aggravated assaults from 256 (2019) to 134 (2024), per the presentation.

Flock ALPR and operational results: the department’s automated license-plate reader (Flock) network — deployed after a grant paid for 37 cameras — produced leads that the department linked to 52 arrests in 2024 and the recovery of 44 stolen vehicles, including leads in homicide and attempted‑kidnapping investigations, the chief said.

Grants and partnerships: the department listed several awards and grant applications, including traffic‑safety grants (Office of Traffic Safety STEP program and a California Highway Patrol Cannabis Tax Fund award) and a Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) grant that funds colocated mental‑health clinicians. The department also reported an Urban Area Security Initiative grant to add security measures at the police facility. The presentation noted the city submitted additional OTS and CHP grant requests in early 2025.

Hope for the Mission partnership: the department described a SAMHSA‑backed collaboration with nonprofit Hope for the Mission to station licensed clinicians and bilingual case managers alongside officers for mental‑health response, de‑escalation and follow‑up case management. Hope for the Mission’s senior director described four program components: training and support, colocated clinicians for de‑escalation, case management and culturally competent marketing and outreach.

Community‑coalition and enforcement work: the department also announced the San Fernando Community Coalition to Prevent Gang Violence and summarized overtime‑enhanced operations funded by a $50,000 council allocation (high‑visibility patrols, organized retail‑theft operations, traffic and parking enforcement). Detectives described two retail‑theft operations and a pawn‑shop search that recovered about $27,000 in stolen property.

Ending: Chief Valdez and his staff told the council they will return with more detailed patrol‑tracking data and pledged to provide regular updates on grant‑funded initiatives, the cooperation with Hope for the Mission and operational metrics.