Editing Stockton, California (section)

===Police department===
[[File:Seal of the Stockton Police Department.jpg|thumb|Stockton Police Department seal]]

; Cleveland Elementary School shooting
{{main|Cleveland Elementary School shooting (Stockton)}}
On January 17, 1989, the Stockton Police Department received a threat against Cleveland Elementary School from an unknown person. Later that day, Patrick Purdy, who was later found to be mentally ill, opened fire on the school's playground with a semi-automatic rifle, killing five children, all Cambodian or Vietnamese refugees, and wounding 29 others, and a teacher, before taking his own life. The [[Cleveland Elementary School shooting (Stockton)|Cleveland Elementary School shooting]] received national news coverage and is sometimes referred to as the Cleveland School massacre.<ref>{{Cite magazine|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,151105,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070310232726/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,151105,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=March 10, 2007 |title=Slaughter in A School Yard |magazine=Time |date=June 24, 2001 |access-date=February 4, 2010}}</ref>

; Budget crisis

The city cut its police force by more than 20% during the [[Subprime mortgage crisis|2008 subprime mortgage crisis]], but voters approved a sales tax on November 5, 2013, that provided funds to hire an additional 120 police officers.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.kcra.com/news/local-news/news-stockton/stockton-pd-reaches-highest-staff-in-5-years/-/12969936/21767084/-/7ek3s6/-/index.html |first=Tom |last=DuHain |work=KCRA |date=September 3, 2013 |access-date=November 7, 2013 |title=Stockton PD reaches highest staff in 5 years |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131212130140/http://www.kcra.com/news/local-news/news-stockton/stockton-pd-reaches-highest-staff-in-5-years/-/12969936/21767084/-/7ek3s6/-/index.html |archive-date=December 12, 2013  }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20131103/A_NEWS0801/311030303/-1/A_NEWS04/ |first=Mike |last=Klocke |work=[[The Record (Stockton)]] |date=November 3, 2013 |access-date=November 7, 2013 |title=Important step to filling out the thin blue line}}</ref>

; Bank robbery
{{main|2014 Stockton bank robbery}}
On July 16, 2014, officers responded to an armed bank robbery, which resulted in the four perpetrators taking three hostages and leading them on an hour-long high-speed pursuit. Over the course of the car chase, one suspect fired over 100 rounds from an [[AK-47]]s at police, disabling 14 police vehicles, including the department's own [[Lenco BearCat]] armored personnel carrier. More than 30 officers shot over 600 rounds into the getaway vehicle. Two perpetrators were killed, two hostages were injured, one hostage was killed by police ammunition, and numerous vehicles and other property were damaged or destroyed by the nearly 1,000 rounds of ammunition fired by the robbers and police.<ref>{{cite web|last1=BELL|first1=DEVON|title=A POLICE FOUNDATION CRITICAL INCIDENT REVIEW OF THE STOCKTON POLICE RESPONSE TO THE BANK OF THE WEST ROBBERY AND HOSTAGE-TAKING|url=https://www.policefoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/A-Heist-Gone-Bad-Critical-Incident-Review.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150918175406/http://www.policefoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/A-Heist-Gone-Bad-Critical-Incident-Review.pdf |archive-date=September 18, 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref> The department faced criticism with its handling of the incident in the aftermath.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Phillips|first1=Roger|title=Third hostage in Bank of the West robbery speaks|url=http://www.recordnet.com/article/20150731/news/150739918}}</ref>

; Crime
[[File:Stockton San Joaquin Street Station 2319 15.JPG|thumb|[[Amtrak Police]] cars at the Stockton – San Joaquin Street Station in Stockton, 2012]]

In 2012, the City of Stockton was the 10th<ref name="finance.yahoo.com"/> most dangerous city in America, reporting 1,417 violent crimes per 100,000 persons, well above the national average, and 22 murders per 100,000 (above the average of 4.7).{{citation needed|date=July 2013}} In 2013, violent crime lessened to 1,230.3 crimes per 100,000 population, making it 19th on the list of the most dangerous cities.<ref name=kdvr>{{cite web|title=By the numbers: Here are the 20 'most dangerous' cities in America|url=http://kdvr.com/2015/05/08/by-the-numbers-here-are-the-most-dangerous-cities-in-america/|publisher=Tribune Media Company|access-date=December 26, 2015|date=May 8, 2015}}</ref>  Stockton has experienced a high rate of violent crime, reaching a record high of 71 homicides in 2012 before dropping to 32 for all of 2013.<ref name=kdvr/><ref name="Anderson">{{cite web | url=http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20131012/A_NEWS/310120320 | title=Violent crime continues downward trend | first=Jason | last=Anderson | date=October 12, 2013 | access-date=November 6, 2013 | work=The Record (Stockton) | archive-date=December 10, 2013 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131210184337/http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20131012/A_NEWS/310120320 | url-status=dead }}</ref>

Stockton Police Chief Eric Jones credited 2013's drop in the murder rate to [[Operation Ceasefire]], a gun violence intervention strategy pioneered in Boston and implemented in Stockton in 2012,<ref>{{cite news | first=Joe | last=Goldeen | url=http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20121228/A_NEWS/212280308 | title=Patience urged as new Ceasefire kicks in | work=The Record | date=December 28, 2012 | access-date=June 14, 2013 | archive-date=March 11, 2014 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140311051123/http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20121228/A_NEWS/212280308 | url-status=dead }}</ref> combined with a federal gun and narcotics operation.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424127887323981304579081102914726812 | title=Cities Use Sticks, Carrots to Rein In Gangs | first=William |last=Harless |date=October 14, 2013 |access-date=November 6, 2013 | work=[[The Wall Street Journal]]}}</ref>