STOCKTON, Calif. — Stockton Police Chief Stan McFadden toured homeless encampments Thursday as a potential serial killer is still on the run.
McFadden may be new to Stockton but his outreach with the homeless community is not. He came from San Jose, and his father chose to stay in a homeless encampment rather than accept housing.
With many of the victims of the possible serial killer being unhoused, he finds the loss of life in the community concerning but doesn’t believe the unhoused are at a higher risk of being a target. Nonetheless, he says everyone needs to be aware.
“Our special operations units are working all the way through the night now, and the men and women of this department volunteered to do this. This is how passionate they are about what we do here,” McFadden said.
The chief also understands the Latino community may have greater concerns because most of the victims were Hispanic. Police also did separate outreach at churches over the weekend to address concerns.
When asked if police think the possible serial killer is also transient after the movement from Oakland to Stockton, McFadden said that’s come up before.
"You know, we don't know. We've talked about that; we've talked about everything. When you don't have a clear motive, you just have to throw everything on the table,” McFadden said.
Regardless, members of the unhoused community in North Stockton say they aren’t afraid. Greg Raffetto is taking comfort in the security of having a dog.
"There are worse things out here; the percentage chance of them happening is far greater than me being offed by a serial killer,” Raffetto said.
In fact, one of them is expected to happen soon in the form of Caltrans cleanup operations. Raffetto was given a three-day notice to pack up his entire life.
“We need housing, not to be scooped up and moved again and again and again,” he said.
Officials say the Caltrans operations will continue into the weekend and they are trying to get as many people into the shelter as possible, but they do not have space for everyone.
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