Latest news with #BrentStratton
Yahoo
29-03-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
BPD preparing for Bakersfield Marathon with traffic and safety plans
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — The city is taking the lead on providing safety for Bakersfield Marathon runners and spectators. With road closures, dozens of police officers will be keeping the marathon routes safe. 'Anything that we can do to help ensure public safety, make sure the roads are safe, that it's safe for our participants; the runners in the marathon. But we also wanna do the very best we can to minimize the disruption to business and to travel,' said Brent Stratton, Assistant Chief of Police. It's not just the police department — it's a coordinated effort between many different businesses and departments. Bakersfield Marathon prep: Water, T-shirts and glory 'Police officers, citizen volunteers, police technicians, professional staff, sworn staff, we set up an overall command post with it, we work with Bakersfield Fire Department, Hall Ambulance as well, there's other allied agencies pitching in, community based organizations, other portions of the city, so it really is a big lift for the city and Bakersfield Police Department,' said Stratton. Stratton said BPD is setting up a command post to coordinate responses quickly if anything that threatens the safety of the event. There will be a variety of different road barriers put up to protect the runners. There are a total of 43 different road closures throughout Sunday morning and into the early afternoon. 'You'll see police cars, you'll see other vehicles that are just meant to be able to block and provide for the safety of our participants,' said Stratton. Even thought it's a big haul for Bakersfield's first responders, Stratton says, 'It's a great event to be able to have coming to our city.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
15-02-2025
- Yahoo
Bakersfield sees a decrease in gun violence for 2024
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — Launched in 2022, the Gun Violence Reduction Strategy has lowered violent incidents in Bakersfield every year. The results for 2024 were no different, with 26 homicide cases, and 44 non-fatal shootings. '2024 was the safest year that we have seen since before the start of the pandemic, and it's also worth noting that burglaries, robberies, car break-ins, and other property crimes are down as well, but not to that same levels,' said Christian Clegg, City of Bakersfield Manager. A challenging job for police is maintaining these trends. 'Oftentimes, when it comes to gang violence, these are generational wars, issues that have occurred and it's tough to be able to get in…be able to intervene to prevent those type of things from happening,' said Assistant Police Chief Brent Stratton. Meet the babies born on Valentine's Day 2025 in Bakersfield This strategy was funded through a grant from the California Violence Intervention and Prevention Program, along with the city's Public Safety & Vital Services Measure. One vital part the city and police work with to bring results is community partnerships…just like they have with Garden Pathways. 'Some of the individuals that we work with are at the highest risk of becoming victims of violence but it's not sometimes the victim that suffers, it's also the family members,' said Juan Avila, from Garden Pathways. To continue a decreasing trend for the 2025 results, the city said it focuses on data and individuals at a very high risk of being involved in gun violence. The city focuses on engaging directly with them, offering a way out and warning them of the consequences with law enforcement. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
14-02-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Fatal crashes down, injury crashes up in 2024: Bakersfield PD
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — There was a decrease in fatal crashes in 2024, but an increase in injury crashes, according to the Bakersfield Police Department. Assistant Chief Brent Stratton with the Bakersfield Police Department says the number of fatal DUI crashes decreased by 58% and the number of fatal crashes, not involving an impaired driver, were down 17%, compared to the previous year. Woman pleads no contest to drugged driving in 2024 Valentine's Day crash However, injury collisions were up in Bakersfield 2024, according to BPD. 'Traffic is one of the areas we continue to assign officers where their sole duty is 40 hours a week to be focused on traffic enforcement. We're working through that via patrol car,' Stratton said, at the city council meeting Wednesday evening. 'We've been able to expand our motor program. We believe our motors are able to do a lot of traffic enforcement that is much more difficult to do in a patrol car.' Stratton told the city council that with the city's support, the department has been able to add officers to the force every year. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
