Editing Bakersfield, California (section)

=== Public safety ===
Law enforcement within the city limits is provided by the [[Bakersfield Police Department]]. Fire protection within the city is provided jointly by the [[Bakersfield Fire Department]] and by the [[Kern County Fire Department]], which protects the county as a whole.

Bakersfield is traditionally acknowledged as the frontier delineating [[Sureño]] and [[Norteños|Norteño]] gang territories.{{citation needed|date=July 2020}}

==== Police ====
{{Main|Bakersfield Police Department}}
The Bakersfield Police Department (BPD) is the agency responsible for [[Law enforcement agency|law enforcement]]. It has over 363 officers and 100 professional staff, covering an area of {{convert|145|sqmi|km2}}, serving an urban population of more than 800,000. The current [[police chief|chief]] of the department is Greg Terry.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.bakersfield.com/news/lyle-martin-selected-as-new-bakersfield-police-chief/article_b069bde9-6688-592d-8efc-2348767d1e9d.html |title=Lyle Martin selected as new Bakersfield Police chief |last=Kotowski |first=Jason |date=December 6, 2016 |website=Bakersfield.com |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161208124431/http://www.bakersfield.com/news/lyle-martin-selected-as-new-bakersfield-police-chief/article_b069bde9-6688-592d-8efc-2348767d1e9d.html |archive-date=December 8, 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref> The department protects the city, split between two areas: West area and East area, with police headquarters in the east and the west substation serving west Bakersfield. The department administration comprises the police chief, one assistant chief, four [[Police captain|captains]], and eleven lieutenants.<ref>[http://www.ci.bakersfield.ca.us/POLICE/index.htm Home Page] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091218074913/http://www.ci.bakersfield.ca.us/police/index.htm |date=December 18, 2009 }}. Bakersfield Police Department. Retrieved March 13, 2012.</ref>

The department headquarters are located at 1601 Truxtun Avenue. The West Substation is located at 1301 Buena Vista Road. Satellite offices are located on E. 11th Street and E. White Lane. The department pistol range is located on Truxtun Avenue, with the K-9 training grounds next door to the range. The department training academy is located on Norris Road and is in conjunction with the Kern County Sheriff's Department.

The 2015 Mapping Police Violence study calculated that Bakersfield police killed civilians at the highest rate in the U.S., logging 13.6 killings per million people, compared to the U.S. average of 3.6.<ref name=bbc-20161214>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-38309192 |title=Bakersfield police shoot pensioner carrying crucifix |work=BBC News |date=December 14, 2016 |access-date=December 15, 2016 |archive-date=December 14, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161214235022/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-38309192 |url-status=live }}</ref> In all, 13 people were killed in 2015 by BPD Officers and 27 people were killed by law enforcement officers in Kern County, which has a population of approximately 900,000.<ref>{{cite web |title=2015 Police Violence Report |url=https://mappingpoliceviolence.org/2015/ |website=Mapping Police Violence |access-date=June 6, 2019 |archive-date=June 6, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190606174622/https://mappingpoliceviolence.org/2015/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The Guardian reported that law enforcement officers in Kern County, California, killed more people per capita than in any other American county in 2015.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/dec/01/the-county-kern-county-deadliest-police-killings |title=The County: the story of America's deadliest police |author=Jon Swaine |newspaper=the Guardian |date=December 2015 |access-date=December 14, 2016 |archive-date=December 14, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161214042954/https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/dec/01/the-county-kern-county-deadliest-police-killings |url-status=live }}</ref>

==== Fire ====
The Bakersfield Fire Department has 14 stations spread across the city.<ref name=stations>{{cite web |title=Bakersfield Fire Department |url=https://www.cafirefighters.com/bakersfield.htm |website=California Firefighters |access-date=March 3, 2015 |archive-date=February 5, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150205052637/http://cafirefighters.com/bakersfield.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>

The Bakersfield Fire Department's communications division, known as ECC (Emergency Communications Center), is located in the Whiting Communications Center in Northeast Bakersfield. ECC is a joint dispatch center for the Kern County, Bakersfield City, and [[California City, California|California City]] Fire Departments. Built in 1988, ECC is responsible for dispatching resources over approximately {{convert|8100|sqmi|km2}}, including 65 fire stations. ECC's approximate call volume is 82,000 calls annually, and it processes emergency and non-emergency fire and medical 911 calls for the entire county of Kern.<ref name=disp>{{cite web |url=http://www.bakersfieldcity.us/fire/fireprevent/emergecomm.htm |title=Emergency Communications Center |work=Bakersfield Fire Department |access-date=February 2, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060305025301/http://www.bakersfieldcity.us/fire/fireprevent/emergecomm.htm |archive-date=March 5, 2006}}</ref>

The Kern County Fire Department (KCFD) is the agency that provides fire protection and emergency medical services for the county of Kern, California, USA. With over 625 permanent employees and 100 extra help employees protecting an area spanning over {{convert|8000|sqmi|}}. KCFD provides fire protection services for over 500,000 citizens living in the unincorporated areas of Kern County and the cities of [[Arvin, California|Arvin]], [[Delano, California|Delano]], [[Maricopa, California|Maricopa]], [[McFarland, California|McFarland]], [[Ridgecrest, California|Ridgecrest]], [[Shafter, California|Shafter]], [[Taft, California|Taft]], [[Tehachapi, California|Tehachapi]] and [[Wasco, California|Wasco]]. This agency is contracted to provide dispatch services for the California City Fire Department, Kern Ambulance based in Wasco, and Care Ambulance based in [[Lake Isabella, California|Lake Isabella]]. Over 546 uniformed firefighters are stationed in 46 fire stations throughout the county.

Due to the vast number of [[county island]]s and jagged city limit lines in the south part of Bakersfield, the closest fire station is dispatched to incidents. This often results in city resources being dispatched to county locations and vice versa.