View 2013 Annual Report (PDF)

Chief's Message

I am proud to present you with the 2013 Annual Report for the Garden Grove Police Department. I am pleased to report that, over the past year, our Part I Crime Rate dropped by 13%. This reduction is impressive, and I believe it was accomplished through the Department’s cooperative and collaborative relationships with all segments of the Garden Grove community.

In last year’s Annual Report I described a significant increase that had been reported in property crimes occurring in Garden Grove. Throughout 2013, considerable effort was focused on this problem in an attempt to reverse the upward trend in these types of crimes. Statewide figures for 2013 showed an almost 8% increase in property crimes, however, property crimes in Garden Grove decreased by more than 15% during that time, because we kept our residents informed of current crime trends and our residents took responsibility and got involved.

The Department is still feeling the long-term effects of the economic downturn caused by the 2008 recession, especially in the area of sworn and civilian staffing. Of the 51 cities in California that have populations between 100,000 and 500,000 residents, Garden Grove ranks 47th in staffing. Our officers handle the third highest volume of calls for service for municipal police agencies in Orange County. In spite of this challenge of low staffing and high volume of calls for service, I am proud to say that our average response time to emergency calls for service in 2013 was an impressive three minutes and 59 seconds.

Events such as the Prison Realignment Act of 2011, inadequate bed space in county jails and budget shortfalls impacting the court system continue to squeeze the entire criminal justice system. In spite of these challenges, your police department is committed to working tirelessly to ensure the safety of this community. We can’t do it alone. Please, stay involved with the issues that impact the safety of this community and join us in making Garden Grove a safe and vibrant place to live and work.

Kevin J. Raney
Chief of Police