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Hanford police report lower crimes and rarer use of force in 2025, officials say
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Summary
Hanford Police presented a 2025 annual report showing declines in most Part I crimes and an officer use-of-force rate below 0.1%; staff credited staffing changes, alternate reporting and Measure H positions for improved response times and service delivery.
The Hanford City Council study session on April 7 opened with the Hanford Police Department's 2025 annual report, delivered by Captain James Lutz and Chief Huddleston, who outlined crime, enforcement and support-division trends across the department.
Captain James Lutz said most Part I crimes fell year‑to‑year: rapes declined about 38 percent, robberies about 53 percent, aggravated assaults about 19 percent, burglaries about 8 percent and thefts about 11 percent; arson incidents were down roughly 60 percent. Homicides increased by one incident, from five in 2024 to six in 2025.
Lutz also gave the department's use‑of‑force figures: "out of all those contacts, we use force under 1% of the time," he said, noting a 2024 use‑of‑force rate of roughly 0.05 percent and a 2025 rate of about 0.04 percent. He reported 11 taser deployments and said defensive tactics predominated; hospitalizations tied to use of force were reported as zero in 2024 and one fatality in 2025.
The presentation described operational and administrative changes that affect statistics. Lutz said written reports completed by sworn officers fell from 7,934 to 5,553 after the department expanded alternative reporting methods and added public safety officer duties, allowing sworn officers more field time. He highlighted response‑time improvements—a roughly 20 percent decrease for priority‑1 responses (from 5 to 4 minutes) and a near‑30 percent improvement for some nonemergency priorities.
Chief Huddleston reviewed detective and support workloads: search warrants and investigations increased, Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) investigations rose, NIBIN firearm‑evidence submissions grew substantially, and property and evidence holdings exceeded 472,000 items. He also said the communications center, though understaffed, handled more than 158,000 calls in 2025 while serving four agencies.
Council members and attendees asked clarifying questions about new equipment and programs. Staff confirmed a drug‑testing instrument was partially delivered and will be completed soon. On homelessness response, Lutz and Huddleston said HART staffing increases (from about three to six officers) and enforcement of local ordinances helped increase contacts while the counted unhoused population declined in their point‑in‑time tally; they noted multiple causes could explain the drop, including relocation or reoffending.
Council members praised the department's work and said improvements reflect both staffing (including Measure H positions) and new reporting practices. The council did not take action from the presentation but engaged staff in questions about equipment, K‑9 capacity and detective callouts.
The department filed its written 2025 statistics with council and offered to return with further information if members request additional details or multi‑year trend analyses.
