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Police chief reports mixed crime picture, outlines new enforcement and community programs
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Summary
Bell City Police Chief described a drop in Part I crimes in 2025 but noted quarter‑to‑date increases in simple assaults and certain sexual‑offense reports for early 2026; he outlined steps including a probation coalition, gang enforcement team, and plans for a crime analyst and K‑9 support.
Bell City’s police chief presented the department’s early‑2026 crime statistics and said the picture is mixed: while the city saw a 22% decline in Part I crimes from 2024 to 2025, the first quarter of 2026 shows increases in some categories and new operational steps to respond.
Chief Velasco told the council the department tracked a 178% rise in simple assaults during the quarter and said a small number of sex‑offense reports produced a 300% statistical increase for that category; he said one of the sex‑offense reports was a late report alleged to have occurred more than 10 years ago and that two of the incidents led to prompt arrests. He said the overall Part I crime rise for the quarter was about 4% compared with the prior quarter, and that recent weekly data put the increase closer to 2%.
Velasco described arrest and enforcement trends: misdemeanor arrests are slightly up, felony arrests slightly down, and traffic collisions—many involving motorized scooters—have increased. He cited an 83% closure rate for detective bureau cases in the quarter (190 closed of 229) and said the department recorded zero officer‑involved shootings year‑to‑date and two officer life‑saving interventions.
The chief outlined ongoing and proposed responses: redeploying two motor officers for traffic enforcement, developing a part‑time gang‑enforcement team, entering a probation coalition task force funded by roughly $1,000,000 from Los Angeles County Probation for compliance checks, and participating in federal and regional task forces (U.S. Postal Inspection and a short loan to an FBI fugitive task force) to bolster narcotics and fugitive investigations.
Velasco also introduced K‑9 Zeus and handler Matt Aguilar, saying the animal is trained primarily for tracking and narcotics identification and has already located missing persons on long‑distance searches. He described plans to seek a dedicated crime analyst or a part‑time crime‑analysis capacity to improve intelligence‑led deployments and suggested creating a major‑accident investigation team for serious traffic collisions.
Council members pressed for deeper breakdowns—gang‑affiliated incidents, domestic violence, and geographic clustering—and the chief acknowledged limited internal analytics capacity. He said staff would ask detectives to disaggregate simple‑assault data and consider domestic‑violence and gang categories, but added that a full analytic review would require a dedicated crime analyst.
The chief’s presentation concluded with a list of training and staffing priorities—homicide‑investigation courses, tactical‑support training, and a planned community police advisory board to increase transparency and community input.
The council did not take formal action on the presentation; it advanced several later agenda items tied to park openings and staffing that the chief said could affect calls for service.
