Chief’s December Message
The following is Chief Rick Braziel’s Department Update taken from the December issue of the Police Department’s newsletter“Community Connection.”
The bi-monthly newsletter is posted on the Department’s website. If you are interested in receiving e-mail notification of latest newsletters, let us know!
This year has gone by so fast, it’s hard to believe we are already at the first anniversary of this newsletter. I hope you have found Community Connection interesting and informative as the Police Department continues to strive for more open communication and accessibility. The following are some highlights from 2009.
In spite of continuing difficult economic conditions, crime in Sacramento has steadily declined in almost all areas. Here are a few statistics for this year as of the end of October in comparison to rates from the same time in 2008:
| Murder | down 47.6% |
| Robbery | down 11% |
| Simple Assault | down 7.2% |
| Aggravated Assault | down14.2% |
| Burglary | down 2.7% |
| Larceny | down 7.6% |
| Motor Vehicle Theft | down 17.5% |
| Rape | up 17.4%* |
* (This rate has increased compared to 2008, however, the majority of
sexual assaults were not random, but suspects known to victims.)
Although most crime rates are down, there are crimes the Department would like to affect more such as residential burglaries. These are frustrating and concerning to the community and Police Department. To do this, we also need your help by securing your homes, looking out for each other, and calling the police if you see anything suspicious. Like many City departments, the Police Department is needing to do more with less in terms of staffing. Hiring has been at a standstill this year, with the exception of a few grant-funded replacements for retired or resigned staff, and there has been no budget for overtime to make up for these losses. As of the end of October, the Police Department was down 98 sworn staff and 114 civilian staff.
The Police Department remains determined to provide the service our community needs and deserves. This year, I am proud to say that Sacramento’s police union voted on concessions which prevented further staffing losses.
Another part of our efforts was aggressively seeking grants to make up for budget shortfalls. Here is the good news on grants applied for and awarded to our Department:
• Federal Recovery Act Funding to Support Law Enforcement - $9,554,860 to hire 35 new officers.
• Office of Traffic Safety anti-DUI funding - $670,500 for DUI checkpoints, warrant sweeps, patrols, and sting operations.
• Federal Secure Our School funding - $463,699 to increase funding at schools in the Sacramento City Unified and Robla School Districts.
• Justice Assistance Grants - $3,142,581 over several years to upgrade police network infrastructure, shooting range bullet traps, tasers, and police vehicle mobile computer replacement.
The Police Department will continue to seek grants and other creative ways to ensure service levels and keep our crime stats in a downward trend.
As we close this year and look forward to 2010, I wish you all a safe and happy holiday season and New Year!
