Council asks staff for broader crime data after update on police substation locations

City staff updated the Stockton City Council on Dec. 16 about progress toward opening multiple police substations and the next steps on potential locations.

Deputy City Manager Choudhary told the council that the Sierra Vista substation was scheduled to open Dec. 23 and that staff had secured vehicles and furnishings. Negotiations were still underway for a unit at the Food for Less center in Weston Ranch; staff requested five years of operating-cost data from the landlord to quantify common-area assessments and "unknown" commercial pass-through costs before finalizing a lease.

Police data and community reaction: the department’s analyst presented year-to-date crime comparisons showing that Van Buskirk had higher counts in several property- and person-crime categories than Western Ranch, including burglaries and vehicle thefts. The police department said two officers and a community-service officer would be assigned to each selected location, while noting officers remain available citywide when higher-priority calls arise.

Council direction: Vice Mayor Lee requested a holistically binned dataset covering crime metrics for all council districts, more detail on aggravated-assault and nonfatal-shooting incidents, and clearer cost comparisons across candidate locations. He moved — and council approved 7-0 — a direction to return with comprehensive district-level data and options for locations and funding sources.

What’s next: staff will continue lease negotiations, evaluate library/community-center options and return with district-by-district crime data, refined cost estimates and potential community-partner contributions for sustaining operations beyond the one-year start-up funding.