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Sacramento Police Department

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Sacramento Police Department
Patch of the Sacramento Police Department
Patch of the Sacramento Police Department
AbbreviationSPD
MottoService, Protection, Dedication since 1849
Agency overview
Formed1849; 176 years ago (1849)
Employees933 total FTE which includes sworn and professional staff
Annual budget$254 million (FY2025/2026)[1]
Jurisdictional structure
Operations jurisdictionSacramento, California, United States
Size100.70 sq mi (260.81 km2)
Population526,954 (2025)
Legal jurisdictionCity of Sacramento, California
Governing bodySacramento City Council
General nature
Operational structure
Headquarters5770 Freeport Blvd
Sacramento, California
Officers648 (FTE)
Unsworn members285 (FTE)
Agency executive
  • Katherine Lester, Chief of Police
Districts7
Facilities
Helicopters2 mission helicopters, 1 training
K9s8 K9, and 1 EOD K9
Website
www.sacpd.org Edit this at Wikidata
[2]

The Sacramento Police Department (SACPD) is the municipal law enforcement agency of the city of Sacramento, California. On August 11, 2017, Daniel Hahn was sworn in and became the city's first African American police chief.[3] The current chief of police is Kathy Lester.

History

By 1849, Sacramento had grown rapidly from a small settlement at Sutter's Fort to a town of 10,000 people following the discovery of gold at Sutter's Mill. On August 1, 1849, the City of Sacramento was founded when the first meeting of a Common Council was held. At that time, the City boundaries were north to the American river, east to 31st Street, south to Y Street and west to the Sacramento River, encompassing 4.5 square miles.[citation needed] N. C. Cunningham was appointed as the first City Marshall (the position now known as Chief of Police) and was given two deputies to enforce the law.[4]

The city did not have a building for a police station or jail, so it briefly used two barges, first the Stafford and then Stirling, before buying the ship LaGrange in June 1850. The LaGrange was retrofitted, moored at the foot of H Street on the river and was the county's jail from 1851 to 1859, when it sank due to heavy rain.[5]

As a result of the Gold Rush in 1852, Sacramento had grown in size until the population had reached 150,000 persons. The Police Department was also increased to six men. In addition to normal police duties, these six officers had to deal with the first Chinese Tong War to ever occur outside of China. A murder plot also occurred during this period. Three men, one of them the Public Administrator, plotted to kill 55 leading wealthy Sacramentans for their money. The Police Department identified the murderers and arrested two of them after the first killing. Both men were subsequently convicted and hanged for their crime.

The Police Department grew slowly from 1849 to 1913 when it had 36 officers. The men of the department patrolled the city on foot and on bicycles. The department had two bicycles at that time. A typical bicycle beat covered about one half of the entire city, or about 200 square blocks. In those years, the department did not have radio equipment. Communication between the Police Station and the beat officers was accomplished by telephones located in specially designated "call boxes" distributed throughout the city for this purpose.

Modern police history, as we now know it, began in 1917. The city's population had declined to just 90,000 people after the Gold Rush boom, but the department now totaled 100 men. During this period, the department moved into the new Hall of Justice building at 6th and I Streets.

During the Great Recession, the department's budget decreased by 30%, causing it to lay off 300 officers.[6]

In 2016, two officers tried to run over and then fatally shot Joseph Mann, an African American man armed with a knife who was about 27 feet away.[7][8] In 2017, the Sacramento County District Attorney cleared the two officers of any legal wrongdoing, concluding that they were justified in shooting Mann,[9] but after an internal investigation by the Sacramento Police Department, neither Tennis nor Lozoya remained on the force.[10]

In April 2017, a video of a Sacramento officer beating a jaywalker prompted a criminal investigation.[11][12]

On March 18, 2018, two Sacramento officers shot and killed Stephon Clark. During protests following the news that the officers would not be charged, Sacramento Police arrested 80 people, including a journalist.[13][14] One woman was injured by a police vehicle.[15]

The Sacramento Police Department has around 600 sworn officers but as a capital city, the Department should have between 1,050-1,200 sworn officers.[16] The Department admitted in May 2025 that a minimum 200 vacancies must be filled.[17] The number of vacant sworn officer positions was given as one reason that some current officers made double to triple their salary, with overtime.[18]

Personnel killed in the line of duty

As of 2025, and since the establishment of the Sacramento Police Department, 18 officers have been recognized as deaths in the line of duty: eleven due to gunfire, plus one in an accidental gun firing, one through a heart attack, two in a motorcycle accident, one in a vehicular assault, and two in a vehicular pursuit.[19]

Chief of Police Erskine G. Fish, who died from gunfire in 1935, was remembered by the radio series Dragnet, at the end of the 9th episode, which aired on August 4, 1949.

See also

References

  1. ^ Sullivan, Carl; Baranauckas, Carla (June 26, 2020). "Here's how much money goes to police departments in largest cities across the U.S." USA Today. Archived from the original on July 14, 2020.
  2. ^ 2009 Sacramento Police Department Annual Report
  3. ^ Bretón, Marcos. "How a white woman from Minnesota raised Sacramento's first black police chief". Sacramento Bee. Retrieved February 6, 2019.
  4. ^ "History | Join Sac PD". www.joinsacpd.org. Retrieved July 11, 2025.
  5. ^ "Sacramento Prison Ship". Elk Grove Historical Society. Retrieved July 11, 2025.
  6. ^ Goode, Erica (November 4, 2012). "Crime Increases in Sacramento After Deep Cuts to Police Force". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved June 5, 2022.
  7. ^ Chabria, Anita; Reese, Phillip (September 30, 2016). "Sacramento police tried to run over man before shooting him, recordings reveal". The Sacramento Bee. Retrieved October 2, 2016.
  8. ^ Wootson Jr., Cleve R. (October 1, 2016). "'I'm going to hit him': Dash-cam video shows officers tried to run over man before shooting him 14 times". The Washington Post. Retrieved October 2, 2016.
  9. ^ "District attorney clears Sacramento police in controversial shooting of Joseph Mann". The Sacramento Bee. January 27, 2017. Retrieved September 26, 2017.
  10. ^ "Controversial shooting of black man by Sacramento police ends with officers leaving force". The Sacramento Bee. October 25, 2017. Retrieved December 7, 2017.
  11. ^ Upadhye, Neeti (April 12, 2017). "Video: Video Shows Sacramento Officer Beating Pedestrian". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved June 5, 2022.
  12. ^ Stevens, Matt (April 13, 2017). "Officer's Confrontation With a Pedestrian, Caught on Video, Spurs Investigations". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved June 5, 2022.
  13. ^ Del Real, Jose A. (March 2, 2019). "No Charges in Sacramento Police Shooting of Stephon Clark". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved June 5, 2022.
  14. ^ Brittney Delgado And The State Hornet Via Storyful (March 5, 2019). "Video: Sacramento Police Respond to Questions on Reporter Arrest". The New York Times. Reuters. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved June 5, 2022.
  15. ^ Rogers, Kayne; Stevens, Matt (April 1, 2018). "Woman Injured by Sacramento Sheriff's Vehicle at Stephon Clark Protest". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved June 5, 2022.
  16. ^ Valle, Andres (June 5, 2025). "Sacramento Police Department comes to grips with an alarming staffing shortage". KCRA.
  17. ^ Epley, Robin (May 22, 2025). "In a broke city, it seems forbidden to question Sacramento Police spending". Sacramento Bee.
  18. ^ Lange, Ariane (May 23, 2025). "15 Sacramento police officers doubled their pay with overtime for multiple years". Sacramento Bee.
  19. ^ "Fallen Officers - City of Sacramento". Cityofsacramento.org. Retrieved July 9, 2025.
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