Authorities in Bakersfield made 211 arrests, recovered 127 stolen autos and seized 4 firearms within the first six weeks of an enforcement effort between native police and the California Freeway Patrol to scale back crime in some California cities, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s workplace stated Tuesday.
Newsom introduced final weeokay that he was sending California Freeway Patrol officers to Bakersfield as a part of an growth of an anti-crime marketing campaign that started within the Bay Space earlier this yr. It seems they have been already on the town and had been for a number of weeks.
In February, he despatched 120 CHP officers to Oakland to handle an uptick in theft and violence amid growing issues about crime throughout the state.
Officers recognized Kern County — house to Bakersfield — because the second location for the crackdown partially as a result of the area has increased charges of violent and property crime and extra arrests in contrast with the statewide common.
“Working alongside native regulation enforcement, the state will proceed to step as much as take down criminals and make Bakersfield safer for everybody,” Newsom stated in a ready assertion.
Within the final six weeks, officers have centered on decreasing automobile theft, tamping down retail crime and bolstering visitors enforcement — a key side of crime discount, Chief Rodney Ellison, CHP’s Central Division Commander, informed The Instances.
Saturation patrols, which draw a heavy police presence to a selected space, have been a instrument for officers within the Central Valley in current weeks, Ellison stated.
Throughout a one-day enforcement effort, authorities issued 230 citations, most of them for rushing, and arrested three folks on suspicion of felonies. Extra enforcement actions are within the works, officers stated.
“Once you stay in an space that’s been riddled with crime and also you begin seeing patrol automobiles rolling round it offers you a way of confidence that it’s secure,” Ellison stated. “And that’s what it’s actually all about — making the group a safer place for folks to stay.”
Rising crime lately has been a supply of intense political stress for Democrats in California. Extremely seen crimes like smash and seize robberies have bolstered critics’ complaints in regards to the state’s prison justice insurance policies, significantly Proposition 47, which categorized sure drug possession offenses and nonviolent property crimes that don’t exceed $950 in worth as misdemeanors.
In Bakersfield, probably the most populous metropolis in Kern County, murder charges climbed 36% between 2020 and 2021, reaching a excessive of 60 in 2021. The quantity dropped to 37 in 2023, however homicides within the metropolis remained about 50% increased than they have been a decade in the past, based on statewide crime knowledge.
Automobile thefts have climbed almost 67% between 2019 and 2022. Business robberies have additionally been on the rise within the final decade, statistics present.
Bakersfield Mayor Karen Goh applauded the preliminary outcomes of the police effort within the metropolis, saying in a ready assertion that it speaks “to the fruitful relationship … between native and state companions to maintain Bakersfield households secure.”
