STOCKTON, Calif. — The Stockton Police Department is being recognized by the U.S. Justice Department for making positive strides in the city.
The National Initiative for Building Community Trust and Justice included six cities across the country:
Stockton, California
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Gary, Indiana
Fort Worth, Texas
Birmingham, Alabama
Chief Eric Jones of the Stockton Police Department said the program was the largest undertaking in United States history to look at why mistrust exists between the police and the community.
"And, it was out of our comfort zone to enter into a large survey, study, project like this," Jones said, adding there were over 100 listening sessions in high crime neighborhoods in the three-year study. "We do know that the results are very positive by moving in each category in a better direction. Not just for that amount of trust the community had in police, but also in officers perception of themselves and the interaction with the community."
The Stockton Police Department implemented the following procedures to the department because of results from the study:
- Added procedural justice language to general order on how canines are deployed (May 2016).
- Modified field training officer evaluations to add demonstration of PJ practices, and required supervisors to evaluate officer understanding of PJ in considering transfer/special assignment requests and promotional examinations (2016).
- Mandated that officers receive annual mental health training.
- Mandated that officers make every attempt to mediate and defuse situations with people experiencing a mental health crisis (July 2016).
- Added policy stating that “sworn personnel of the Stockton Police Department shall not stop, question, detain, arrest or place ‘an immigration hold’ on any person solely on the ground that he or she may be a deportable alien” (January 2017).
- Added procedural justice language to rules and regulations regarding conduct toward the public and fellow police members (May 2017).
- Tenets of procedural justice added to equestrian unit order (June 2017).
- Created policy on release of body camera footage (July 2017).
- Unmanned Aircraft System policy created with community input (November 2017).
Jones says although the results are promising, more work needs to be done, including more work solving cold case murders. Many Stockton families of murder victims have voiced their frustration over their loved ones cases remaining unsolved for years.
"So that's exactly what we are trying to improve," Jones said. "So, that they can have an individual they can reach out to that can give them the time, put them first at that moment, a person that maybe checks back with them whether they have new information or not."
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