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Atwater police reestablish street crimes unit; council hears enforcement and hotspot‑patrol plan
Summary
Police described a newly reestablished street crimes unit that is conducting directed enforcement on quality‑of‑life crimes and described coordinated daytime code‑enforcement cleanups and a 30‑day graveyard-shift hotspot pilot to address illegal camping, shopping-cart thefts and drug activity.
The Atwater City Council heard a detailed public-safety update on Feb. 23 as the police department described a recently reestablished street crimes unit and expanded enforcement focused on quality-of-life issues.
Chief Mcken said the unit was reintroduced in January and is overseen by the investigative sergeant; the two-officer unit will pursue gang activity, drug crimes, retail theft, illegal vendors and repeat offenders and will operate with investigative and special-operations support. “They’re not tied to patrol. They’re not going call to call. They’re able to actually focus on things that we don't normally have time to do,” the chief said.
Lieutenant Novki told the council the unit has already made felony and warrant arrests, including one individual with 13 outstanding warrants, and has supported DUI enforcement and gang intelligence work. Novki emphasized the unit’s role as a collaborative investigative resource rather than a replacement for existing task forces.
City staff summarized the department’s approach to encampments: daytime code-enforcement teams and public-works cleanups intended to prevent small camps from embedding, and nighttime patrols enforcing park closures and illegal camping. The department reported citations issued between Jan. 1 and Feb. 16: four for park-after-hours, two for shopping-cart possession and 34 for illegal camping; repeat citations are tracked and may escalate to misdemeanor charges after multiple violations.
Sergeant Ken Lee outlined a planned 30-day hotspot-patrol pilot for the graveyard shift with four phases—identification, deployment, environmental problem-solving (lighting, vegetation and physical deterrents) and evaluation—calling out measurable metrics (illegal camping citations, shopping carts recovered, drug arrests, warrants served and trends) for the evaluation phase.
Councilmembers asked about coordination with the Merced Area Gang Narcotics Enforcement Team (MAGNET) and resource impacts on patrol; police leaders said the unit is intended to be complementary and to free patrol to focus on neighborhood visibility. The department also recommended site-specific environmental actions such as road base or heavy-rock barriers at repeated encampment locations to prevent immediate reoccupation; staff agreed to research costs and logistics.
Next steps: the department will pilot the hotspot plan, continue daily cleanup coordination with public works and report results and metrics during the evaluation phase.
