Neighborhood Blitz Program Slashes Crime In Stockton Neighborhoods
STOCKTON (CBS13) — The Stockton Police Department says its recent Neighborhood Blitz program reduced violent crime nearly 70 percent in one neighborhood.
The program is a combination of code enforcement cleanup and heavy police presence in one area for three months.
In those three months, police say the program improved parts of South Stockton, including painting over graffiti and cleaning up litter. The blitz included a code enforcement team, a sergeant and three officers staying in the area to clean it up.
"We also bring in other services like mental health providers, so it's kind of like an all-hands-on-deck to help that community," said Stockton Police Chief Eric Jones.
One way police get people to help stop trashing the neighborhood with graffiti was to get children to create art in the parks.
Jones says crime dropped significantly.
"While we were there, we had an almost 70 percent reduction in violent crime," he said. "I attribute quite a bit of that to the fact we had a highly visible police presence while we were doing it."
Jones says he doesn't the staff to keep teams in the neighborhoods they start in and there are too many other neighborhoods that also need the help.
But what happens when police leave? The first neighborhood blitz location was in the gateway corridor and neighbors say they say an improvement. Landlords and apartment managers say they're more involved.
"Security is a little tighter around here, if there's issues, they're addressed. They're also starting to do some painting which is kind of nice," said Rick Cuenca.
Police will check up on the neighborhoods periodically and consider returning for a second program if needed.
