- Video shows patrol pursuit of a man with a gun, gun violence statistics, and officers analyzing a field for evidence
- Assistant Chief of Police Brent Stratton says the department looked at other cities to begin implementing a ceasefire model to prevent gun violence in 2021, and he says that model has helped reduce homicides by more than 30%.
The Bakersfield Police Department reports a more than 30% drop in homicides from 2022 to 2023, and Assistant Chief Stratton credits their new crime reduction strategy with this significant drop.
As Bakersfield grows, Assistant Chief Stratton with BPD says so does the crime.
“As 2021 closed, we were seeing a record number of shootings and homicides.”
With 136 homicides in 2021 according to 23ABC’s count, Assistant Chief Stratton says he knew something needed to change to reduce that number.
“As we became more data driven and more evidence based in our approach, we began seeing that there is a lot of commonality in our homicides and our nonfatal shootings,” he explained.