PORTERVILLE POLICE department 2012

PORTERVILLE POLICE
DEPARTMENT
YEAR END REPORT
2013

MESSAGE FROM THE CHIEF
On behalf of all members of the
Porterville Police Department, I am
pleased to present our 2013 Annual
Report. This report is a very brief
summary highlighting crime trends
and the efforts of the Porterville
Police Department over the last year.
Daily, officers and staff of this
department continue to provide the
citizens of Porterville with dedicated
service and the highest quality of law
enforcement. I am truly honored to
work alongside our officers and
support staff who are committed to the department’s mission
to “Provide Service with Excellence” in an effort to enhance
the quality of life in our community and for our citizens
Chuck McMillan
Chief of Police

PORTERVILLE POLICE DEPARTMENT
STAR OF SUCCESS
BROAD PERSPECTIVE
ROAD ERSPECTIVE
COMMUNIITY IINVOLVEMENT
UTIILIIZE RESOURCES
‣ IDENTIFY PROBLEMS
‣ SOLVE PROBLEMS
‣ CUSTOMER SERVICE
‣ TAKE CARE OF OUR
PEOPLE
ACCOUNTABIILIITY
FOLLOW--UP

Mission Statement
The members of the Porterville Police Department are committed to the
safety and security of the community while providing service with
excellence, honesty and integrity.
Core values
All members of the Porterville Police Department are expected to
adhere to our core values; conducting themselves at all times with
Honesty, Integrity, Accountability, Professionalism, Respect and
Commitment.
HONESTY: We are truthful in our words and actions, marked by
integrity and honor, reputable, credible and free from deception.
INTEGRITY: We hold ourselves to the highest legal, moral and ethical
standards. We acknowledge and accept that our conduct, both on and
off duty, must be above reproach.
ACCOUNTABILITY: We accept our individual responsibility for our
actions and strive to promote trust by upholding our obligations to the
department and the community.
PROFESSIONALISM: We are dedicated to treating all people with
respect, fairness and compassion while continually pursuing the highest
levels of knowledge, skills and expertise.
RESPECT: We treat others with dignity, honoring the rights, ideas and
opinions of all individuals. We value and are sensitive to our diverse
community.
COMMITMENT: We pledge to fulfill our mission by being dedicated to
our community, our Department and each other.

POLICE DEPARTMENT
CHAIN OF COMMAND
Chief of Police
Administrative
Sergeant
Explorers
Crime/ Prevention
Juvenile Diversion
Patrol Captain
Services Captain
Investigations
Captain
Patrol
Lieutenants
Services Sergeant
General
Investigations
Patrol Sergeants
Communications
Unit
Narcotics
Unit
Patrol Teams
Records Unit
Special
Investigations
Traffic Sergeant
Property /
Evidence
Gangs / Auto Theft
Probation / Parole
Traffic Unit
Animal Control
Supervisor
Volunteers
Animal Control
Unit
SWAT / HNT
Reserve Officers

PORTERVILLE POLICE DEPARTMENT
YEAR END REVIEW 2013
10 YEAR PART ONE CRIMES
2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 Average
Homicide 6 2 9 7 1 1 4 2 3 8 4.3
Rape 10 18 21 14 7 16 12 6 11 8 12.3
Robbery 72 48 60 72 63 64 60 58 70 44 61.1
Assault 576 556 651 632 552 549 598 534 473 427 554.8
Burglary 549 507 534 540 389 370 450 518 594 469 492
Theft 1206 1352 1481 1491 1165 1051 1154 1221 1012 799 1193.2
Stolen Vehicles 427 442 399 320 325 239 251 194 206 227 303
Porterville Police Department had a busy year in 2013 handling over 66,000
incidents. Due to a proactive approach to law enforcement, more than 35,000 of
those responses were self initiated by police personnel. As noted in the chart above,
we experienced a spike year in homicides and a small increase in auto theft, all other
crime areas were down.
45,000
40,000
35,000
30,000
25,000
20,000
15,000
10,000
5,000
0
2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
Officer Initiated 41,857 39,491 36,910 35,142 35,460
Call for Service 28,940 30,258 30,948 32,405 30,619

PATROL SECTORS
The jurisdiction of the Porterville Police Department is divided into four quadrants
to better serve the community on a more personal basis. This structure is consistent
with the community oriented philosophy which allows constituents to better
recognize and become more familiar with officers in their neighborhoods or
business districts. This approach aids in building a better relationship with the
community and addressing the individual needs of each sector. This idea allows for
our Department personnel to better recognize trends or sprees in their assigned
areas of town and address them expeditiously. Officers relieving each other from
shift to shift share notable events in their assigned areas to maintain consistency
with follow ups, close patrols and investigations that do not conclude within one
shift.
Each sector team is set up with a member from each facet of our Organization. They
consist of one sergeant, one officer in charge, one traffic officer, one detective, and
four to five patrol officers. The patrol officers are made up of one from each patrol
shift, ultimately offering one sector officer on duty at all times. Each of the two
patrol lieutenants oversees two of the sectors to ensure uniformity city wide.

TRAFFIC UNIT
The goal of the Traffic Unit is to save lives by maintaining a safe flow of traffic on
our city streets. This year we purchased two new vehicles for the unit, these being
Honda ST-1300 motorcycles, which have taken the place of the Harley Davidson
Electra Glide. We still maintain two Suzuki off-road motorcycles as well as a Polaris
off-road vehicle for enforcement in the Tule River.
Traffic Enforcement Comparisons
4000
3500
3000
2500
2000
1500
1000
500
0
3945
3398 3320
2628
213 229
Cite/Mover Cite/Non-mover DUI Arrests
2012
2013
While we concluded 2013 with an increase in citations issued and DUI arrests made,
the total number of reported traffic collisions remained very similar to the previous
year. A study was conducted with regard to pedestrians and bicyclists involved in
traffic collisions throughout the calendar year of 2013. The findings were that an
estimated 10% of all reported collisions this year involved a pedestrian or bicyclist,
with 43% of these involving juveniles. For these reasons, the enforcement of
violations involving bicyclists, pedestrians and those failing to yield to such was
increased, with a goal of curbing the trend in the upcoming year.
Traffic Comparisons
350
300
250
334 320
2012
200
150
198
202
2013
100
50
0
Non-Injury T/A's Injury T/A's Fatal
4
5

SCHOOL RESOURCE OFFICER UNIT
The School Resource Officer Unit is supervised by a Sergeant and staffs four
officers. An officer is assigned to, and responsible for, each of the three main high
schools, these being Porterville High School, Monache High School and Granite
Hills High School. This
assignment also includes all
the junior sites that feed into
these schools. The fourth
officer is assigned to the
Burton School District and is
directly responsible for all 10
Burton Schools. These officers
are a direct liaison with not
only the students, but the staff
and administrators as well,
promoting a positive working
relationship.
Two of our School Resource Officers have
been specially trained to instruct the
G.R.E.A.T. Program to our 5 th and 7 th grade
students citywide. The curriculum covers
gangs, drugs, and alcohol, specifically
prevention, awareness and alternatives to
such. Most importantly, it puts an officer in
the classroom networking with our youth.
The SRO Unit focuses on the safety and
security of their assigned school daily.
They conduct drills with the staff and
students as well as classroom
instruction regularly. Officers in this
capacity have proven to be an
invaluable resource for our office, our
schools and our community.

K-9 UNIT
The K-9 Unit currently consists of a sergeant, three officers, and three police service
dogs. The K-9 unit put in over 500 hours of training this year in addition to
numerous call outs and public demonstrations. Each time a K-9 is utilized in the
field, the handler generates a K-9 usage form, whether or not a crime report is
generated. This allows us to track the usage of our canines, as the vast majority of
their usage is not reflected with crime reports. As reflected in the graph below, each
usage of a K-9 is placed into a certain category that most appropriately identifies
how the K-9 was used. Besides public demonstrations there were 250 documented
uses of a K-9 in 2013, only 11 of which resulted in the dog actually biting a suspect.
80
70
60
72
66
50
40
30
47
54
Bites
Apprehensions
Building Searches
Area Searches
Control
Demos
20
11
24
10
0
K-9 Uses
This year our Department prematurely
lost two valued members of the K-9 Unit
as Service Dogs “Seven” and “Diago”
were euthanized due to ongoing health
complications. They will both be
remembered for their long, illustrious
and dedicated careers with the police
department.

SPECIAL INVESTIGATIONS UNIT
The Department’s Special Investigation’s Unit (SIU) spearheaded the Department’s
narcotics enforcement efforts and they were very active and productive in 2013. The
team consisted of a sergeant and four detectives who targeted the use and
distribution of narcotics as well as tracked and investigated gang related criminal
activity. In March of 2013, a fifth detective was added to the unit. The fifth
detective in this unit worked closely with Tulare County Probation to monitor and
track inmates released from incarceration under Post Release Community
Supervision (PRCS). Weekly and bi-weekly home visits of those offenders on
supervised release were conducted on a caseload of approximately 25 to 30 released
offenders at any one time. As a result, approximately 50 percent of these persons
were incarcerated for re-offending.
Narcotics seized by SIU from 1/1/13 to 12/31/13:
Methamphetamine 6,883 grams (approx. 15 lbs)
Marijuana/Processed 177 lbs
Marijuana/Plants 456 Mature Plants
Heroin
90.8 grams
Cocaine
910 grams
SIU conducted nearly 100 surveillances and served over 80 search warrants in order
to seize the above listed narcotics. In addition to the above mentioned narcotics, the
Special Investigations Unit also seized in excess of $70,000 in U.S. currency, (2)
vehicles, and 32 firearms.

GENERAL INVESTIGATIONS UNIT
The General Investigations Unit consists of a Sergeant, and 4 detectives. They
handle all felony cases that range from property crimes, crimes against children, sex
crimes, homicides, and felony assaults. The caseload is split up between the
detectives, with two primarily assigned to crimes against children, sex crimes,
missing persons, and child abuse / elder abuse referrals. The remaining two
detectives were primarily assigned to investigate burglary, theft, and fraud type
cases. Major violent crimes were based primarily on the call-out schedule.
In 2013, the General Investigations Unit was assigned 556 cases and closed 396, with
100 cases that were suspended. Also in 2013 homicides were up as compared to in
recent years. Of the 8 homicides this year three were determined to be gang related
in some way. It should be noted that arrests have been made in all 8 homicides that
occurred in 2013.

JUVENILE DIVERSION
The Juvenile Diversion Program was supervised by Porterville Police Chaplain /
Community Service Officer Steve Walker throughout 2013. He was closely assisted
by our School Resource Officers and Police Volunteers. The program continues to
be an effective tool in addressing and
managing the problems that our youth
encounter, at their inception. The
program allows for our youth to
identify the act or deficiency and claim
ownership of it. A contract is then
drafted between the juvenile and the
program as a promise to complete the
curriculum and all its requirements.
Upon achievement, the originating
criminal act is dissolved in-house and
will not affect the criminal history of the
juvenile. In the event that the student
fails to complete the program, the case may then be sent to the District Attorney or
Probation Department for review of prosecution.
Part of the requirement to graduate the Juvenile Diversion Program is to take part
in an all day class, held one Saturday per month. In these sessions those in
attendance cover topics related to decision making, conflict resolution, choices and
consequences. Also covered are the realities of substance abuse and the intricacies of
the juvenile justice system. Other requirements may include community service,
reading assignments, letters of apology
for their acts and even restitution.
This year a total of 303 juveniles were
cited into the program. Of these, 190
meetings were held with the parents,
leading to the initiation of 158 contracts.
A total of 151 juveniles successfully
completed the entire program, which
concluded with 3,142 hours of community
service endured.
The Juvenile Diversion Program has
proven to be very beneficial and a positive approach to addressing the non-violent
minor criminal acts of our youth. It has also developed a friendship between our
department and the families involved which otherwise would not have been
established.

PURSUITS
Concluding a high speed pursuit with an apprehension is not the primary goal of
our office, the safety to all involved is always paramount. This not only includes
those chasing or being chased, but the general public as well. Safety versus
apprehension is the primary factor going through the mind of the pursuing officers
and supervisors when encountered with such an event. Some of the many other
factors to be considered when choosing to continue or terminate a pursuit are the
time of day, roadway and weather conditions, experience of those involved and
nature of the present violation. Pursuits are always reviewed and closely scrutinized
at many levels, to include the Command Staff of our Organization, to ensure the
utmost safety and policy was followed. 2013 concluded with no reported injuries as
a result of the 18 documented vehicle pursuits.
PURSUITS
18
20
18
14
11
2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
Number of Pursuits Last 5 Years

USE OF FORCE
Police Officers have an assortment of force options available to them in an effort to
affect arrests while minimizing the risk of injury to the officer and suspect. The
escalation of force begins with mere command
presence and verbal commands, then to physical
application such as control holds. The next levels of
force available are pepper spray, batons, canines,
Tasers and ultimately the use of firearms as a last
resort.
In 2013, as well as the previous two years, we did not
experience any incidents in which officers were
required to use deadly force. We experienced a total
of 28 separate incidents in which it was necessary
for an officer to use a force option to affect an arrest. Each of these documented
incidents was later evaluated by Command Staff to assure its compliance with
department policy and state law. The use of the Taser and police K-9 were again the
most used force options.
FORCE APPLICATIONS
40
Number of Applications
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
Firearm 1 2 0 0 0
K-9 14 7 6 8 11
Bean Bag 1 0 0 0 1
Impact 4 4 6 5 3
Taser 13 4 3 14 12
OC 1 2 2 0 2
Hands 3 2 3 2 3
2009- 34 Separate
incidents (3 with multiple
force options)
2010- 18 Separate
Incidents (3 with multiple
force options)
2011- 18 Separate
Incidents (1 with multiple
force options)
2012- 26 Separate
Incidents (3 with multiple
force options)
2013- 28 Separate
Incidents (1 with multiple
force options)

SPECIAL WEAPONS AND TACTICS
&
HOSTAGE NEGOTIATION TEAMS
SWAT
The Porterville Police Department maintains a SWAT team
made up of a lieutenant, two sergeants and eleven
operators. The team trains monthly and also endures three
performance based physical fitness assessments and
weapons qualifications.
Throughout 2013 the team documented over 1,000 hours of
training to include tear gas training and regional training
with allied SWAT team’s valley wide. The SWAT team had
a total of 7 activations throughout the calendar year for
high risk search warrants or
emergency situations
involving
barricaded suspects. This year the
team purchased a Robotex Avatar
II tactical robot with
asset
forfeiture funds, outfitted with an
audio and video camera, to be us ed to assist with clearing
buildings. Other equipment maintained consists of two
armored vehicles, shields and a variety of high powered
weaponry.
HNT
The Hostage Negotiations Team is made up of a sergeant and two operators, each
specially trained in communicating and negotiating with persons in critical
situations. Negotiators must have strong communication skills and endure a 40 hour
P.O.S.T. certified training course. The team
also conducts monthly training and works
closely with SWAT as the two units are
regularly summoned together for critical
incidents. HNT accounted for a total of 118
hours of documented training this year and
5 deployments.
Both teams are readily available for callouts
24 hours a day, 7 days a week, as
critical situations may arise.

COMMUNICATIONS
&
RECORDS
COMMUNICATIONS
The Communications Unit of the Porterville Police Department is supervised by a
sergeant and is staffed with 13 full-time police and fire dispatchers and one parttime
dispatcher. The unit provides a 24 hour service to our community. As of 2012
our office has taken over providing
dispatch services to the City of Lindsay
after regular business hours.
Each dispatch team is staffed with a
minimum of 3 dispatchers per shift,
dependent on the shift, expected call
volume or operations being conducted.
In 2013 the Communications Center
answered approximately 180,000 phone
calls including 911, calls for service, and business calls. The Communications Center
was the hub that documented nearly 70,000 police incidents, over 4,000 fire
incidents and an additional 12,500 incidents in the City of Lindsay.
RECORDS
The Records Unit, supervised by the same sergeant, was staffed with 5
full-time records technicians in 2013. This year the tenured team was
impacted with two retirements. Rita Gilmer left us after 33 years of
committed service to the city and
Elbia Graves, in early 2014, with
18 dedicated years of service. The
two departed with an abundance
of knowledge and experience
leaving large shoes to fill.
The team of 5 was responsible for
data entry, case report filing and
proper dispersal of all crime reports, traffic
collisions and traffic citations generated by the
entire department. This is amongst many other collateral duties and reports needing
attention. This year 7,343 traffic citations were processed, 8,876 reports filed and
2,064 field interviews entered into the records management system. All this while
greeting the public in the lobby and addressing their individual needs and concerns.

CRIME PREVENTION
VOLUNTEERS & EXPLORERS
Crime Prevention was run by Community Service
Officer Steve Walker. The primary objective of
the unit is to provide crime deterrent services and
programs to the citizens and business owners of
Porterville. A variety of strategies and programs
are used to anticipate, recognize and address
criminal activity. Neighborhood Watch, Business
Watch and G.R.E.A.T. are a few of the programs,
all of which are consistent with our philosophy of
COPPS Community Oriented Policing and
Problem Solving. Crime Prevention is closely
supported by the Department’s Volunteers and Police Explorers.
problem areas.
The Police Volunteer Corps is made up of 14 members, one of
which just completed 18 years of service to the program. They
assist with a wide variety of assignments such as parades and
events such as neighborhood watch meetings, Step Up events
and Parents on a Mission. Other duties and assignments
include assisting records with filing and sending out parental
notification notices to parents whose children have been cited
for traffic related violations. This year the members completed
a speed survey for the entire city which will be valid for the
next decade. The Volunteer Unit has an assigned patrol car
that it utilized regularly for patrol checks and routine patrol of
The Police Explorers are comprised of 40 members and are
closely supervised by officers of the Department to assist
the community in a wide range of activities. The members
must be between the ages of 14 and 21 and must pass a
background investigation to take part. The Explorers assist
with parades, City of Hope, Step Up festivals and parking
assistance with the annual Freedom Fest firework show.
Three times a year the program commutes to Pebble Beach
for the AT&T National Pro Am Golf Tournament along
with the Nature Valley First Tee Golf Tournament and the
Concourse De Elegance Car Show to provide assistance
with parking and traffic control. The members also take
part in an annual Kern County Memorial Explorer
Competition in which this year they achieved a 1 st place
award in Search and Rescue.

ANIMAL CONTROL UNIT
The Animal Control Unit is staffed
with a supervisor, three full-time
Community Service Officers and one
part-time employee. One of the
CSO’s is assigned solely to the
shelter, monitoring the detained
animals and responsible for the day
to day upkeep of the facility. The two
other CSO’s are on patrol
responding to calls for service
regarding vicious, loose, detained or
deceased animals.
The Animal Control Unit also contracts with Lindsay and
Woodlake, to shelter their detained animals. This year a new
vehicle was purchased to replace an older model that was taken
out of service. As in years past, the service provided by our animal
control staff has proven invaluable for the quality of life and safety
of our community. The team responded to 5,859 calls for service
this year, an average of nearly 500 per month. During these calls
they recovered 2,764 animals and were able to adopt out 1,165.
The unit also issued 95 citations this year for animal related
violations and collected 672 deceased animals.
Fees and related
services directly related
to animals collected this
year accounted for
$44,974.00. Another
$12,604 was received by
way of public donations,
which was used to pay
for animal alterations. Microchips were
also purchased with these funds to be
implanted into the animals upon spay or
neutering and adoption.

GRAFFITI
Graffiti
900
800
700
600
780
553
500
400
419
347
300
200
100
231
159
109
63
0
2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
Maintaining a continued zero tolerance stance on graffiti, the City of Porterville yet
again has witnessed a substantial decrease in the senseless criminal act. These
results are directly correlated to the proactive enforcement and prosecution,
coupled with the immediate clean up and removal of the graffiti. With an all-time
low of 63 acts reported this calendar year we sustained a decline of 92% over the
past seven years.

2012/2013 COMPARISONS
Traffic
Accidents
2013 2012 % of last year 5 Yr AVG % of avg year
Fatal 5 4 125% 3 167%
Injury 202 198 102% 197 103%
Non-Injury 320 334 96% 349 92%
Total 527 554 95% 549 96%
Citations 2013 2012 % 5 Yr AVG %
Mover 3,398 2,628 129% 2,566 132%
Non-Mover 3,945 3,320 119% 3,043 130%
Total Cites 7,343 5,948 123% 5,603 131%
Field
Interviews
2,064 1,744 118% 1,762 118%
Arrests 2013 2012 % 5 Yr AVG %
Felony 1,278 1,194 107% 1,415 90%
Misdemeanor 2,245 2,144 105% 2,507 90%
Total Arrests 3,523 3,338 106% 3,919 90%
DUI 229 213 108% 232 99%
11550 UTI 540 427 126% 404 134%
Part One
Crimes
2013 2012 % 5 Yr AVG %
Homicides 8 3 267% 2 400%
Rapes 8 11 73% 10 80%
Robberies 44 70 63% 63 70%
Assaults 427 473 90% 540 79%
Burglaries 469 594 79% 464 101%
Thefts 799 1,012 79% 1,121 71%
Auto Theft 227 206 110% 243 93%
Police Activity 2013 2012 % 5 Yr AVG %
Officer
Initiated
35,460 35,142 101% 34,107 93%
Calls for
Service
30,619 32,405 94% 30,087 102%
Reports 8,876 9,083 98% 9,519 93%

EMPLOYEE RECOGNITION
Of all the outstanding employees of the Porterville Police Department, two were
selected by their peers as Employee of the Year. (One Sworn/ One Civilian) These
two exemplify the Department’s philosophy of identifying problems and solving
problems and their day to day performance reflects what we have come to expect
from the fine men and women of the Porterville Police Department.
Officer Oscar Vargas was selected as the
sworn-employee of the year for 2013.
Oscar was selected due to his strong work
ethic, his dedication to the department,
and his loyalty to his teammates. Oscar is
a proactive officer that is regularly among
the Department’s leaders in arrests.
When he is not handling a call for service
he is actively seeking violators.
Casey Contreras was selected as the
Department’s civilian employee of the year.
Casey is assigned as the secretary to the
Patrol Division, yet she does so much more.
Casey operates as the Department’s liaison
with the District Attorney’s Office to assure
all officers needed in court receive their
subpoenas and arrive on time. She also
compiles statistical information that can be
used for analytical purposes and she has
been known to fill in as a Dispatcher when
needed.

The Porterville Police Department is exceptionally grateful to have been
able to provide a service, second to none, to the citizens of our
community. We concluded with, yet another, successful and safe year
that we are very proud of. The year came and went with new faces
throughout our Organization, which came with new ideas and goals, for
the betterment of our city. We look forward to a safe and productive
2014.