Lodi 411 was inspired by the Lodi Police Department’s Citizens Academy, a public class offered by Lodi PD to introduce citizens to Lodi Police and policing. Despite its small-town feel, Lodi has 67,000 residents spread across 14 square miles — so most of us are only aware of what happens near us or what we happen to see in the paper, on TV, on social media, or hear from friends. I realized that I didn’t know much about what was going on around Lodi or even much of what was happening in District 1 (now District 5)— where I live. Let alone the 4 other districts. A crime blotter in the print and online print version of Lodi Sentinel was published a couple of times a week. Online sites like spotcrime.com didn’t cover Lodi in any detail. I read the Sentinel, watched local news on TV, and checked out social media, but I still didn’t feel informed. I wanted an easy way to stay informed about important public events in Lodi that tied together Lodi Police Reports, local news and events, social media posts from official sources, and what’s going on with City Council and Committees. I didn’t have the background or resources to do something like Stocktonia or The Richmond Standard, so I built a data-driven, citizen-supported resource for Lodi — Lodi 411.

“Here’s something interesting — go check it out at the source…”