EPD Reports Major Surge in Proactive Policing

EPD Stops Corvette in January of this year. [Photo by Ryan Hutson]

An update report from the Eureka Police Department the shows proactive policing in action, with dramatic increases in officer-initiated activity, traffic stops and pedestrian/bicycle stops.

As detailed by Eureka Police Chief Brian Stephens during the July 15 city council meeting, the proactive approach is believed to result in fewer collisions and calls for emergency and general responses.

Stephens summarized statistics from April through June of this year compared to the same time period last year.

911 calls and non-emergency calls are each down by 10 percent, at 6,313 and 12,234 respectively.

Calls for various types of service are down by six percent.

A recent shift in the department’s policing style is reflected in another set of numbers – those on officer-initiated contacts and stops.

Describing them as “the big numbers,” Stephens said they’re reflective of “wanting to move forward with more proactivity.”

Officer-initiated activity rose by 95 percent, from 3,906 actions to 7,610.

Even bigger increases are seen in traffic stops, which increased by 292 percent with 2,076 stops, and pedestrian/bicyclist stops, with an 833 percent increase at 112 stops.

“Coming out of COVID, we got into a mindset of becoming more reactive than proactive towards certain things,” Stephens said. “So with some change this year, we’ve seen a real increase in the initiated activity.”

Traffic stops “play a vital role not only in our traffic enforcement side of the house but they also lead to multiple other types of investigations for our patrol officers to dive deep into because they’re stopping people and finding different things on those stops,” he continued.

But increases in felony arrests and total cases were slight, with each up by two percent.

There were 205 felony arrests during the time period in 2024 and 209 in 2025. Misdemeanor arrests decreased by nine percent, from 436 last year to 398 this year.

Total cases rose to 1,236, up from 1,213 last year.

Regarding traffic incidents, collisions dropped by 14 percent but criminal collisions such as hit-and-runs increased by 35 percent and DUI arrests increased by 69 percent.

“So we’re still addressing the DUIs that are out there and even though we’re seeing more traffic collisions on the criminal side, we are doing what we can to address those issues as heavily as we can,” said Stephens.

He said 411 traffic citations were written, an increase of 136 percent. But he doesn’t believe that has “a direct effect” on the changes.

“I think it’s the overall traffic enforcement that we’re seeing, it’s being out there which creates the deterrence, that we see the change,” he said.

He added, “I think it is truly is being seen and felt by the public, given some of the public comments we’ve seen but also it’s having that deterrence for other crimes that are to be committed.”

The department launched a new online reporting portal during the time period, with 31 incidents reported.

The addition of an Old Town patrol officer is linked with increases in mental health calls for service and 5150 holds.

They rose from 347 to 421 and 18 to 36 respectively.

Mayor Kim Bergel noted recent collaboration between the department and the Crisis Alternative Response Eureka (CARE) program.

“I know that CARE is now starting or started not long ago to do solo calls without a police officer with them,” she said, asking if that’s being done more.

Stephens said it is, and is “a complete asset to the department in many ways, starting off with the fact that they can relieve us earlier on calls so we’re not spending two officers on a call for a longer period of time to resolve something we may not have the resolution for.”

CARE staffers are familiar with assistance programs and are ready to make referrals when they respond to mental health-related situations, he continued.

Stephens related that that day, a person in the police department lobby was “talking nonsensically” and CARE responded.

“There was no need for an officer to go out there, they dispatched CARE directly to that and they showed up at our office and took the lady away to get her some help.”

Stephens added, “We do not take anything for granted and if there’s any safety issues at all, we make sure that there’s a dual response for those types of calls.”

Bergel said some residents have questioned the need for dispatching officers to mental health situations “so I really appreciate our city going to bat and making that happen and working together to make that a reality.”

Council Member Renee Contreras-DeLoach linked the proactive approach with crime prevention.

“I wasn’t expecting such really dramatic numbers but I really appreciate it,” she said. “I think crime prevention and preventing something worse from happening by watching traffic and stuff like that is obviously better.”

She suggested the new approach is supported by the community.

“I haven’t heard anybody complain about the fact that you guys are doing more enforcement because I think everyone’s felt like everything’s moving way too fast, we’ve had way too many accidents and everybody’s been trying to figure it out,” she said.

Also at the meeting, a Gulch Greenway ordinance was approved.

The ordinance designates a Gulch Greenway Overlay area described as “a screening tool triggering site-specific evaluation when development is proposed.”

Within the zone are “management areas” that apply to portions of parcels within 50 feet of greenway riparian areas and 100 feet from wetlands.

The new rules won’t apply to existing home footprints and related “outdoor improvements.”

New permitting will apply to various activities, including removal of large native trees, sizable grading and vegetation removal and installation of fencing.

Approval was unanimous, with Councilmember Scott Bauer recusing himself due to having property in the regulation area. Councilmember Mario Fernandez was absent.