Murrieta police report: staffing near full, collisions down 12% and major narcotics seizures reported

Chief Matt Henry presented the Murrieta Police Department’s annual report on July 7, telling the council the department is close to full sworn staffing and saw measurable changes in public-safety activity over the 2025 reporting year.

"We have 114 sworn positions," Henry said, and the department had responded to over 67,000 calls for service in the period covered by the report. Henry highlighted specialized enforcement and regional task-force activity: a Riverside auto-theft interdiction detail recovered more than 555 vehicles with a total value the chief described as nearly $20 million; a major narcotics task force seized large quantities of illegal drugs, including more than 1,800 pounds of cocaine, 2,300 pounds of methamphetamine and 41 pounds of fentanyl powder, and more than one million fentanyl pills were taken out of circulation.

Henry also reported a 12% decrease in traffic collisions from 2024 to 2025, attributing the drop to targeted enforcement of high-collision behaviors such as red-light and stop-sign violations. The department’s specialized teams logged substantial activity: the community-policing outreach made 263 homeless contacts; the CBAT team responded to 530 mental-health calls; the investigations bureau handled 534 cases; and the child-exploitation investigators reviewed roughly 11,000 cyber tips leading to arrests.

The chief noted technology upgrades including a cloud-based CAD/dispatch and a drone first-responder program used for early scene assessment during recent investigations. He closed by thanking staff and noting awards to dispatch supervisors and other personnel.

Council thanked the chief for the report; no formal action was required.