Stockton Police Department Chief Stanley McFadden took on the streets of north Stockton on Wednesday morning for his first Chief Community Walk in the area of West Lane Plaza.
Two Mounted Patrol Unit horses, along with the Crime Prevention Unit, Strategic Community Officers and more joined McFadden for the walk.
“Today, we’re out in our Valley Oak District, which has a lot of commercial buildings as well as some residential neighborhoods,” McFadden said prior to the walk. “We’re just here to meet and greet and have conversations.”
McFadden visited more than 50 businesses in the East Hammer Lane and West Lane areas, including Bubba’s Car Wash, SF Supermarket and Laguna Laundry.
“I want them to know that we’re here for them. We understand that they bring great value to the city of Stockton. It’s hard to have a business and we appreciate them taking a chance on Stockton,” he said. “We appreciate them bringing jobs and providing services to our Stockton community members. We’re very happy to help them.”
District 2 Councilmember Mariela Ponce, a health care worker who represents north Stockton, was in attendance at the community walk.
“I just want to let them know that if they have any questions or concerns … we’re here to address whatever issues are happening in this district,” Ponce said. “We’re here for them, we’re here for the community and I’m very excited.”
McFadden said no chief has walked the area before.
“We don’t get over here a lot, but it’s still very important,” McFadden said. “The businesses are extremely important to us in this neighborhood.”
The department also shared resources on the Business Watch Program with the businesses in the area.
“A Business Watch establishes communication links among various businesses within a specific geographic area such as a plaza, mall, complex, or city block,” the city of Stockton website states. “Each business works with the others to keep the police department informed of any activity that could be considered criminal in nature.”
To learn more about the Business Watch Program, visit stocktonca.gov.
‘Actions speak louder than words’
Bubba’s Express Car Wash
Bubba’s Express Car Wash manager Joseph Saucedo said the biggest issue he has seen is regarding unhoused people in the area. The car wash is located at 1505 E. Hammer Lane.
“The homeless really are desperate, so they want to go through the recyclables. They want to panhandle, and it’s intimidating to women who have children, people who are drunk all the time, falling over, urinating in public,” Saucedo said. “It’s just a little much during certain times of the year, and we’re getting ready to come on to that time of the year.”
Saucedo said customers and employees have also been threatened by unhoused people. He said they would like to see more of “a regular police precedence of patrolling.”
“Well, it’s nice to have the chief come through. It’s good to put a face with it,” Saucedo said. “But actions speak louder than words … the more police presence that it has, the better.”
Ina’s Bakeshop & Restaurant
Marife Lucero, who co-owns Ina’s Bakeshop & Restaurant at 1619 E. Hammer Lane, has also had problems with unhoused people who frequent the area.
She said her shop’s glass window had been broken about five times last year.
“We’re glad that they came here to know our problems because the homeless … broke our glass,” Lucero said. “The glass is so expensive, so I’m glad that they will hear our problem about that.”
She went on to say that she has also had unhoused people come into her shop and steal food and beverages.
Baskin-Robbins
Baskin-Robbins owner Silvia Qureshi has also been affected by the unhoused community in the area. Her ice cream shop is located at 7908 West Lane, Ste. 217.
Qureshi said the concerns she shared with McFadden during his stop at her shop were surrounding the unhoused individuals who go into her shop and harass her employees.
“Most of my employees are very, very young … they’re easy targets for adults who are more jaded by life,” Qureshi said. “We get ice cream cakes stolen. We get ice cream quarts stolen. My dad had to install a contraption that is not corporate, really, but we had to get that installed, otherwise we would get weekly theft of ice cream.”
She shared her concerns regarding security presence in the area, especially later in the night.
She would also like to see faster response times from police when they are called. She said she has owned the shop since 2018, and while she understands that the police can’t be “everywhere at once,” she hopes the response time becomes faster.
“It’s nice to know that they’re interested in coming and asking business owners’ opinions and concerns, because we are the people of Stockton, so we know first-hand what’s going on,” Qureshi said. “We deal with people all day. We’re open from 10 to 10, so it’s a lot of interaction with the people of Stockton. It’s good to know that he cares and is here to inquire.”
The Stockton Police Department currently has a staff of about 380, McFadden said Wednesday.
“We’ve already hired more than 60 new officers this fiscal year, which is breaking records that we haven’t seen since 2016, 2017,” McFadden said.
The chief said that the reason why they are able to solve crimes is due to the community’s tips. He encourages those who “see something, say something.”
“Keep policing in your circles. We’ll keep policing in our circles, and together, we can’t be stopped,” McFadden said.
Record reporter Angelaydet Rocha covers community news in Stockton and San Joaquin County. She can be reached at arocha@recordnet.com or on Twitter @AngelaydetRocha. To support local news, subscribe to The Stockton Record at
