Temple Station says Part 1 crimes down year‑to‑date; 172 arrests in July–August

Deputy Cortez of Temple Station reported to the South El Monte City Council that Part 1 crime counts for July and August show a pronounced decline from prior years.

"We are down 11% from last year," Cortez said, and noted the four‑year trend since 2021 shows a drop of roughly 38–41% for Part 1 crimes. He told the council the station carried out multiple suppression operations in July and August and logged 172 arrests across department line deputies and team operations.

Cortez said a spike in February related to regional fires reduced patrol staffing, which in turn affected arrest totals for part of the year, but that the overall trend since 2022 has been downward. "Less staff on the streets means less of us doing the arrests," he said, while emphasizing the downward trajectory remained intact.

Council members praised the station’s work and credited community reporting with part of the improvement. One councilmember told Cortez, "This is a great presentation," and thanked deputies for their diligence.

Deputy Cortez also described neighborhood outreach, including meet‑and‑greet events where deputies gathered resident concerns and committed to targeted patrol checks in problem areas. He said the department will assemble area‑specific incident reports for outreach sites such as Farmers and Andrews to help tailor deterrence efforts for catalytic converter thefts and other local issues.

The presentation closed with council members thanking the department and urging continued community engagement and patrols in neighborhoods identified during the meet‑and‑greet sessions.