Parlier police report: violent crime down overall; $1.515 million state grant earmarked for mental-health training

Parlier's police chief told the City Council on Jan. 18 that Part 1 crimes for 2023 were down about 6% compared with the prior year, while some categories such as robberies and auto theft rose. The presentation broke out trends by offense and emphasized the department's use of cameras and license-plate data to improve investigations.

The chief said rapes increased in absolute numbers (from 6 to 10), robberies rose from 12 to 19 and auto-theft incidents increased from 52 to 66, while larceny and aggravated assaults decreased. He described a year-over-year reduction in violent crimes overall and reported fewer priority calls and a 22% drop in total calls-for-service as evidence of improving public-safety indicators.

On response to mental-health incidents, councilmembers asked about crisis intervention. The chief said officers are being scheduled for expanded crisis-intervention training (including 40-hour programs) and that the department recently obtained a state grant of $1,515,000 to support training and intervention strategies. "We did get a grant for $1,515,000 dollars from the state specifically for that type of training," the chief said.

Council members asked how many officers the training will cover and how the funds will be spent; the chief said he will evaluate vendor proposals and report back with costs and recommended providers. The council also discussed longer-term strategies including multi-agency partnerships for mental-health responses and follow-up reporting to the council.

Next steps: Chief will return with vendor cost estimates and a training plan tied to the state grant; council asked staff to brief the public on the timeline and scope of the training once providers are selected.