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Police chief reports 28% drop in overall crime year-over-year, outlines staffing and community-policing plans
Summary
Police Chief Steven Shaw told the Desert Hot Springs Public Safety Commission that the department recorded a 28% reduction in overall crime compared with the same quarter last year, outlined recruit timelines, a two-officer community response team, and plans to assign officers to four voting districts after a July shift change.
Police Chief Steven Shaw told the Desert Hot Springs Public Safety Commission on May 8 that overall crime in the city fell 28% compared with the same quarter last year and highlighted personnel and operational changes intended to maintain that trend.
"We have seen another reduction in our crime... overall our crime numbers went down 28% compared to the same quarter last year," Shaw said, noting specific decreases in violent and property crimes: aggravated assaults down 26%, simple assaults down 38%, robberies down 35% and larceny down 27%.
Shaw reviewed April operational figures: 3,386 calls for service, 93 arrests and 151 citations. He described an upcoming staffing infusion: two recruits will begin the Riverside County police academy on June 10 (a six-month academy), the department has sponsored one recruit who will graduate in July, and additional candidates are going through background checks. Shaw said the department also is close to filling a vacant dispatcher position.
On community policing, Shaw said officers will be assigned to the city's four voting districts after a July shift change so assignments remain stable for six months. He also reported the Community Response Team's expansion to two full-time officers to coordinate homelessness outreach with code compliance, public works and SWAG while preserving enforcement options for trespass, warrants or other criminal behavior.
Shaw described operational improvements including construction progress at the police station, installation of fencing and cameras, and about 30 new secured parking spaces for staff. He discussed technology use, saying the department uses Flot cameras to help locate vehicles (not live surveillance into vehicles) and has used a drone to follow a juvenile rider off-road to aid in an arrest while limiting high-speed pursuits.
Commissioners and attendees raised business and public-safety questions about response times for incidents at drive-thru locations and juvenile moped activity. Shaw urged businesses to call dispatch and recommended parental attention to juveniles riding mopeds and off-road bikes.
