Report: Each Stockton Deadly Shooting Carries $2.5 Million Pricetag
STOCKTON (CBS13) — A new report shows Stockton taxpayers spend $2.5 million dollars for every deadly shooting in city limits.
The 'National Institute for Criminal Justice Reform' presented the report inside council chambers Tuesday night.
"I think it's a new way of framing the issue," Stockton Mayor Michael Tubbs said. "Showing up at the scene of a murder is already too late for the young men, usually young men's life. [Its] too late for the family, for the neighborhood, for the friends, but also, [it's] just throwing money down the drain."
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According to the report, the homicide price tag for each individual deadly shooting is $8,400 for the police investigation, $200,877 for the district attorney and public defender, and $1,942,475 for prison placement. Add in hospital costs and victim support, and the report shows each Stockton deadly shooting costs taxpayers a total of $2.5 million.
"As we look at sort of how we continue to make the community safe, this will be another tool we have, to make the case for the need to invest in programs," Tubbs said.
The report comes as a memorial on a downtown Stockton street pays tribute to a 17-year-old homicide victim killed over the weekend. Rafael Chavez went to Chavez High School. His death is an immeasurable loss for his grieving mother.
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"Any mother's nightmare is to lose their child or bury their child," mother Rochelle Valverde said
This city seeking a safer future for its children. Now assigning a taxpayer dollar signs for every deadly shooting, life lost.
"It's about saving lives, and also saving lives allows us to save money," Tubbs said.
Mayor Tubbs says this is the first report of its kind by a city breaking down the costs of a deadly shooting.
The report says if Stockton can reduce its deadly shootings by 20% a year it will save the city tens of millions of dollars.
