Merced’s crime rate dropped in the first quarter of the year. Here’s why
Crime stats are down across the board through the first quarter of 2025, according to Merced Police Chief Steven Stanfield.
Car thefts, burglaries, assaults, shootings, murders, homicides and traffic accidents are all occurring less frequently, according to stats compiled by the Merced Police Department through its computer aided dispatch system.
Through the first quarter of 2025, traffic collisions were down 27% from the first quarter in 2024. Crimes in the city, including sexual crimes (45%), robberies (13%), homicides (27%), vehicle burglaries (63%) and shootings (30%) are down.
“I set the goal for the staff, with our command staff that we want to improve the quality of life for all citizens,” Stanfield said. “The one thing I can control about the quality of life here is the crime rate. That is my responsibility, including the traffic collision rate. When I see these numbers going in the positive direction it tells me we are making an effort to improve the quality of life for all citizens in this community.”
Through May 2, those stats continue to trend in a positive direction.
There have been 63 less cars stolen from 165 last year to 102 this year at this point.
“I’m super proud about these numbers, because auto theft in the Central Valley has been a nemesis of law enforcement,” Stanfield said. ”I came from Modesto, and I was number one in the nation for many years, and I was so tired of hearing about auto theft, so I was very tickled with these numbers.”
Robberies are down from 52 in 2024 through May 2 to 36 this year, a drop of 31%. There has been a 30% drop in shootings, which Stanfield describes as any time the police receive a report of a gun being fired.
Assaults are down 7% and felony assaults have dropped by 13% from the same time period from 2024 to 2025.
Stanfield credits the improvement in the crime rates to his staff, the department’s emphasized area command strategies and using data to help direct department decisions.
Stanfield was hired as chief in October of 2023 and one of the big changes he made last year was implementing an areas command strategy that divided the City of Merced into quadrants with four area commanders responsible for those zones.
“I’ve told them, ‘In your area of command, you are in charge,’” Stanfield said. “You’re responsible for all crime that happens in your area of command, you’re responsible for all officers that work in your area of command, you’re responsible for solving all problems in your area of command, you’re responsible for all citizen complaints that come to my office.”
By assigning a section of the city, the area commanders and the officers working under them in that area get to know their quadrants really well. They can address crime trends in their area or traffic safety issues.
Every two weeks the area commanders meet with Stanfield and other leaders on the staff to discuss issues, recaps, current major crime issue they’re dealing with in their current areas and problem solving solutions.
“Hey, you want to be a police chief one day, I’m going to have you run one quarter of the city,” Stanfield said. “I’m responsible for it all. I get it. You need to learn what it’s like to run your division and learn how to solve crime in your area.”
Stanfield and his staff all have crime and traffic statistics all available to them to help them recognize problem areas that need addressed.
The data can show them what intersections have the most collisions in the city. It can show a trend of auto thefts in a certain part of town. It can tell them when the department receives the most calls.
“You got to pay attention to the numbers to know, and it’s not just the number,” Stanfield said. “We have a number, where is it happening? What time of the day is it happening? What area of town is it happening in? Now, pull those reports and find out what the common theme is, so if we’re having a rash of auto theft, what day of the week, what time of the day and where, let’s put resources there.”
The data can help Stanfield and his team know when the department should have more officers on duty and what parts of town they should focus on.
Traffic safety was a hot topic whenever Stanfield talked to citizens since he came on board in Merced. He said he is happy to see the number of collisions and injuries due to collisions are down.
Traffic enforcement is one reason. The city also recently installed a red-light camera at the intersection of R Street and 16th Street. Since the red-light cameras have been active it has captured several hundred violations, which will be warnings sent to drivers for the first 30 days. After the 30-day warning period those violations will be tickets.
“We put out a monthly collision hot spot reports,” Stanfield said. “One of the area commanders does it. This is the hot spot for crashes in the last month. It lists the top five intersections or 10 intersections on the board. These are the times when they mostly happen so, wink, wink, if you work that beat and that shift, be at that intersection.”
Stanfield said the department is operating at full staff with 95 sworn officers, many of whom have local ties, whichcan make a big difference.
“Most of my staff, like almost all of them, they went to the local high schools here,” he said. “Their kids go to school here. They truly want to invest in this community because it’s their families that also live in this community. It’s a huge perk that I have a lot of local talent who care about this. That’s a big deal.”
