Behind Lodi's Traffic Grant: 917 Crashes, Two Years of Police Calls and a Department Short on Officers
Lodi411 / LodiEye — Public Safety Report — November 2026
Summary
To win a $110,000 state traffic-safety grant, the Lodi Police Department had to describe its traffic problem in writing. Its application, in the City Council's November 4 agenda packet, reports 917 documented crashes in 2025: 157 injury crashes that hurt 203 people, more than 75 crashes involving suspected impaired drivers and about 269 DUI-related arrests. No one died. The department also told the state it can't do much traffic enforcement on regular shifts. Of 80 authorized sworn positions, about 23 were not fully staffed (City of Lodi Council packet, Nov. 4, 2026, item C.2, pp. 33–34).
Lodi411 has kept a record of the department's published calls for service, the log of incidents officers respond to or start themselves, since November 2024. Lodi411 didn't receive the log on 56 of those 730 days, so this report takes annual totals from the department's own count and uses the Lodi411 record for rates, timing and locations. Crash calls held steady at about 100 a month across both years. Hit-and-run calls rose, and traffic stops fell. Crashes cluster in the afternoon, when patrol is busy with other calls and makes relatively few stops.
Lodi has fewer officers per resident than most nearby cities. California Department of Justice figures put Lodi at 1.02 sworn officers per 1,000 residents in October 2025. Ripon, Galt, Turlock and Stockton all had more officers per resident. Tracy and Lathrop were about even with Lodi, and Manteca and Elk Grove had fewer. Lodi's sworn headcount has stayed between 65 and 76 for 20 years.
What the Application Reports
The grant comes from the California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS), the state agency that passes federal highway-safety money to local police. The program is called the Selective Traffic Enforcement Program (STEP). It pays officers overtime for extra traffic work, such as DUI checkpoints and patrols aimed at specific crash causes. Lodi's grant runs from October 1, 2026, through September 30, 2027 (Council packet, p. 30). These are the 2025 figures the department gave the state.
| Measure | 2025 |
|---|---|
| Calls for service about a crash | about 1,285 |
| Crash reports taken by officers | 323 |
| Crashes documented as information exchanges only | 594 |
| Total documented crashes | 917 |
| Fatal crashes | 0 |
| Injury crashes (among the 323 reports) | 157 |
| People injured | 203 |
| DUI-related crashes | more than 75 |
| DUI-related crashes with injuries | 20 |
| DUI-related arrests | about 269 |
| Hit-and-run injury crashes | 10 |
| People injured in hit-and-runs | 12 |
| People injured in motorcycle crashes | 9 |
| Pedestrians injured | 22 |
| Bicyclists injured | 17 |
Source: Lodi Police Department OTS application, Schedule A, in the Nov. 4, 2026 Council packet, p. 33.
The 917 figure counts every crash the department documented, not just the 323 where an officer wrote a full report. In the other 594, officers recorded that drivers swapped insurance and contact information, which is common when no one is hurt. All 157 injury crashes come from the 323 full reports.
The application also says Lodi "typically has a higher-than-average number of pedestrians involved in crashes" for a city its size. OTS's most recent rankings back that up: in 2023 Lodi ranked 13th worst for pedestrians killed or injured among 103 California cities of similar size, with 28 victims (OTS crash rankings, Lodi, 2023). The application also credits enforcement for fewer organized sideshows, the illegal street gatherings where drivers do stunts and race.
The annual report's crash chart changes what it counts in 2025
Page 12 of the department's 2025 annual report has a "Traffic Collisions" bar chart for five years: 1,070 in 2021, 1,349 in 2022, 1,339 in 2023, 1,414 in 2024 and 917 in 2025 (Lodi Police Department 2025 Annual Report, p. 12). Read as one series, crashes fell 35 percent in a single year, by far the biggest change on the chart. That's how the drop was reported in July (Lodi News-Sentinel, July 2026).
The bars don't all measure the same thing. The 2021, 2023 and 2024 reports each say their total counts collision-related calls for service, meaning every call officers answered about a crash:
- 2021: 1,061 calls and 326 collision reports (2021 Annual Report). The 2025 chart shows 1,070.
- 2023: 1,336 calls and 357 reports (2023 Annual Report). The 2025 chart shows 1,339.
- 2024: 1,414 calls and 376 reports (2024 Annual Report, p. 12). The 2025 chart shows the same 1,414.
The 2025 bar counts something narrower. The 2025 report's text uses the same phrase, "917 collision-related calls for service," but then breaks the 917 into 323 collision reports and 594 cases where drivers only exchanged insurance and contact information. That makes 917 the number of crashes officers documented, not the number of calls. The grant application says so directly: about 1,285 crash calls produced 323 reports and 594 information exchanges, "for a total of 917 documented crashes" (Council packet, p. 33). Because the label didn't change, nothing on the page tells readers the measure did.
Counted the same way as earlier years, 2025 had about 1,285 crash calls, down 9 percent from 2024. That fits the application's own description of a "slight decrease." Lodi411's call logs show the same thing: crash calls averaged 3.5 a day in late 2024, 3.3 in 2025 and 3.3 in 2026. The 917 has nothing to compare against, because the reports don't publish documented-crash totals for earlier years. The department's statistics page lists 1,413 for 2024 and doesn't define its count either (Lodi Police Department Statistics).
Lodi crash counts as charted in the 2025 annual report, with the 2025 call count added
Blue bars for 2021–2024 are the values in the 2025 annual report's chart. The 2021, 2023 and 2024 reports describe those totals as collision-related calls for service. The 2022 bar is shown as the 2025 report charts it. The orange 2025 bar is the 917 the annual report charts: 323 reports plus 594 information exchanges. The blue 2025 bar is the department's crash-call count from the OTS application. Sources: 2025 Annual Report, p. 12; 2024, 2023 and 2021 annual reports; Council packet, p. 33.
| Measure | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | Change, 2024–2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Collision-related calls for service | 1,336 | 1,414 | about 1,285 | −9% |
| Collision reports written | 357 | 376 | 323 | −14% |
| Injury collisions | 148 | 163 | 157 | −4% |
| People injured | 197 | 219 | 203 | −7% |
| People killed | 7 | 3 | 0 | — |
| DUI collisions | 72 | 101 | 75 | −26% |
| DUI alcohol/drug-related arrests | 349 | 457 | 269 | −41% |
| Traffic citations | 2,589 | 2,606 | 2,741 | +5% |
The 2025 call count comes from the OTS application. The annual reports don't publish an information-exchange total for 2023 or 2024, so the 2025 figure of 917 documented crashes has no earlier match. Sources: 2023, 2024 and 2025 Lodi Police Department annual reports, p. 12 (2024–2025); Council packet, p. 33.
The department's own reports show a real but smaller improvement: about 9 percent fewer crash calls, 7 percent fewer people injured and no deaths. DUI collisions fell 26 percent. DUI arrests fell faster, by 41 percent, from 457 to 269. The application reports the 269 without noting that it was the lowest of the three years.
What Two Years of Police Calls Show
Lodi411 receives the department's published call log every day and stores each call with its type, time and block-level location. The record runs from November 6, 2024, through November 5, 2026. Lodi411 didn't receive the department's log on 56 of those 730 days: 22 in December 2025, 18 in January 2026, 9 in February 2026, 5 in July 2026, and one each in March and May 2026. Calls from those days aren't in the record, so it can't be used for annual totals. The rates below divide each period's calls by the 674 days with a log. Each call keeps the type assigned when it was dispatched, which can differ from what an officer's report later finds.
For 2025 totals, this report uses the department's count: about 1,285 crash calls, 917 documented crashes and about 269 DUI-related arrests, according to the grant application. Lodi411's logs show how those calls rose or fell over the months, when in the day they came in and where they happened.
Crash calls and traffic stops per month, December 2024 to October 2026
Monthly counts scaled to a 30.4-day month from the days on record. December 2025 and January 2026 are omitted because fewer than 19 days of logs arrived. Source: Lodi Police Department calls for service, as recorded by Lodi411.
Crash calls barely moved. They ran at about 98 per 30 days from March through October 2025 and about 100 over the same months of 2026. Traffic stops swing far more from month to month. They peaked in February and April 2025, sank to about 170 in June 2026, and climbed back above 380 in August and October 2026. Much of that swing comes from a few big days. Lodi411 counted seven days with 35 or more stops. The four largest look alike. All fell on Tuesdays, one each spring and fall: April 15, 2025 (115 stops), October 28, 2025 (89), April 14, 2026 (94) and October 27, 2026 (86). On a typical day in the surrounding weeks, officers made 5 to 11 stops. On these four days, 84 to 111 of the stops came between 6 a.m. and 3 p.m. The logs show no duplicate call numbers, and the rest of each day's calls were ordinary. Two of the dates match multi-agency enforcement days reported in the News-Sentinel. On April 14, 2026, 36 officers from seven agencies made 392 traffic stops and issued 358 citations (Lodi News-Sentinel, Apr. 21, 2026). On October 27, 2026, 33 officers from the same seven agencies issued 278 citations (Lodi News-Sentinel, Nov. 3, 2026). The Lodi Police log for April 14 holds 94 stops, about a quarter of the 392. That suggests the log mainly shows Lodi PD's own stops, not those made by Stockton, Tracy, Manteca and Lathrop police, the Sheriff's Office or the CHP. The two 2025 dates follow the same pattern, but this report found no published account of operations on those days. The four days together account for 384 stops, about 6 percent of the stops in the logs Lodi411 received. On a typical day, officers made eight.
| Call type | 2025 | 2026 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| All calls in the record | 2,180 | 2,006 | −8% |
| Crash calls, all types | 98.3 | 100.3 | +2% |
| Crash calls logged with injuries | 12.2 | 9.5 | −23% |
| Hit-and-run crash calls | 26.3 | 30.0 | +14% |
| DUI calls | 22.8 | 20.0 | −12% |
| Traffic stops | 306.0 | 286.5 | −6% |
| Vehicle-code violation calls | 122.7 | 128.1 | +4% |
| Bicycle stops | 7.5 | 10.2 | +37% |
245 days on record in 2025 and 238 in 2026. Source: Lodi Police Department calls for service, as recorded by Lodi411.
Comparing the same eight months removes seasonal swings. The number of crash calls didn't change. Calls logged with injuries fell about a quarter, and DUI calls fell 12 percent. Hit-and-run calls went the other way, up 14 percent. Most hit-and-runs damage only property: the logs show 26 to 30 hit-and-run calls a month, while the department counted 10 hit-and-run crashes with injuries for all of 2025. Traffic stops fell 6 percent. Calls of all types fell 8 percent, so stops held their share of patrol work.
Crashes happen in the afternoon; stops happen at night
Share of crash calls, traffic stops and DUI calls by hour of day, Nov. 2024–Nov. 2026
Each line shows the percentage of that call type logged in each hour, from the 674 days with a log: 2,233 crash calls, 6,614 traffic stops and 465 DUI calls. Source: Lodi Police Department calls for service, as recorded by Lodi411.
From 2 to 7 p.m., Lodi logs 39 percent of its crash calls and only 18 percent of its traffic stops. From 9 p.m. to 2 a.m. the pattern reverses: 35 percent of stops and 11 percent of crash calls. Outside the overnight hours, stops are at their lowest between 3 and 5 p.m., right when crashes peak. Other calls keep patrol busy then too. Every hour from 9 a.m. through 4 p.m. logged more than 2,000 disturbance, suspicious-person, theft and similar calls over the two years.
Night stops have a clear purpose: 60 percent of DUI calls come between 6 p.m. and 3 a.m., and Friday and Saturday nights produce the most. The application describes the daytime problem: "Due to our staffing shortages our patrol officers find it difficult to address traffic concerns while responding to calls for service." It adds that "much of Lodi PD's traffic enforcement comes from officers deployed on overtime" (Council packet, p. 34).
Where crashes and stops happen
| Street | Crash calls in logs received | Share of crash calls | Share of traffic stops |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kettleman Lane | 278 | 12.4% | 17.2% |
| Cherokee Lane | 172 | 7.7% | 11.1% |
| Lower Sacramento Road | 139 | 6.2% | 4.7% |
| Turner Road | 117 | 5.2% | 6.0% |
| Lodi Avenue | 115 | 5.2% | 6.9% |
| Ham Lane | 96 | 4.3% | 3.8% |
| Hutchins Street | 72 | 3.2% | 3.1% |
| Pine Street | 66 | 3.0% | 1.8% |
| Harney Lane | 64 | 2.9% | 1.8% |
| Stockton Street | 64 | 2.9% | 3.9% |
Calls are assigned to the street named first in the call's block address. Counts cover the 674 days with a log: 2,233 crash calls and 6,614 traffic stops. Source: Lodi Police Department calls for service, as recorded by Lodi411.
Kettleman Lane (State Route 12) and Cherokee Lane have the most crashes and get even more of the stops. Lower Sacramento Road, Pine Street and Harney Lane get fewer stops than their share of crashes. Officers can't stop drivers everywhere, and a single stop location doesn't show where a driver was first seen speeding. Still, the table shows where enforcement and crashes don't line up.
E-bikes and scooters
The application says Lodi, "like many agencies," is seeing more electric bicycles and scooters, and that it will use grant money to address bicycle violations. It sets aside eight pedestrian-and-bicycle enforcement operations (Council packet, pp. 34 and 37). The call record shows the trend. Bicycle stops rose 37 percent from March–October 2025 to the same months of 2026. Fall 2026 ran at 11 to 16 stops a month, compared with 2 to 12 in most months of 2025. The call type doesn't say whether the bicycle was electric. The application counts 17 bicyclists injured in 2025.
Lodi's Staffing Compared With Neighboring Departments
A city can list two different officer counts: how many positions the budget authorizes and how many officers are actually on the payroll. The application gives Lodi's authorized number, 80 sworn officers, meaning officers with full arrest powers. It describes about 114 full-time positions in all, sworn and civilian. About 17 officers were somewhere in training, and several more were on long-term injury or disability leave. The department says that adds up to about 23 sworn positions not fully staffed (Council packet, p. 33). By its own estimate, about 57 of the 80 positions held an officer fully available for duty.
The state collects the payroll number. Every October 31, each California police agency reports its full-time sworn and civilian employees to the California Department of Justice (DOJ). The 2025 survey lists 70 sworn officers and 38 civilian employees at Lodi PD. That's 10 short of the 80 authorized, and the count doesn't separate officers still in training or on leave (California DOJ OpenJustice, Law Enforcement Personnel 1991–2025).
Full-time sworn officers per 1,000 residents, October 31, 2025
Sworn officers outside jail duty, from the DOJ survey, divided by Department of Finance population estimates for January 1, 2026. Sources: California DOJ OpenJustice; California Department of Finance, E-1 estimates.
| Department | Sworn | Civilian | Population, Jan. 1, 2026 | Sworn per 1,000 | Residents per officer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ripon | 22 | 18 | 15,873 | 1.39 | 722 |
| Escalon | 10 | 2 | 7,304 | 1.37 | 730 |
| Galt | 36 | 16 | 27,133 | 1.33 | 754 |
| Turlock | 84 | 53 | 72,592 | 1.16 | 864 |
| Stockton | 371 | 191 | 322,436 | 1.15 | 869 |
| Tracy | 104 | 68 | 99,705 | 1.04 | 959 |
| Lodi | 70 | 38 | 68,513 | 1.02 | 979 |
| Lathrop | 41 | 19 | 40,942 | 1.00 | 999 |
| Modesto | 199 | 138 | 220,048 | 0.90 | 1,106 |
| Elk Grove | 160 | 122 | 188,319 | 0.85 | 1,177 |
| Manteca | 81 | 35 | 96,511 | 0.84 | 1,191 |
The San Joaquin County Sheriff's Office is left out because its sworn staff also cover courts, the county's unincorporated areas and contract cities, so a per-resident rate would mislead. Sources: California DOJ OpenJustice; California Department of Finance.
Turlock is the closest match to Lodi in size, with about 72,600 residents to Lodi's 68,500. It had 84 sworn officers to Lodi's 70, along with 53 civilian staff to Lodi's 38. Ripon, Escalon and Galt rank higher, partly because a small city still needs officers on every shift. Manteca has a third more residents than Lodi with about the same number of officers.
Per-resident rates don't capture workload, crime levels, how many calls civilian staff handle, or what the sheriff and the California Highway Patrol cover nearby. They do show that Lodi isn't unusually well staffed for a city its size, and the payroll count was already 10 below authorized before anyone on it went into training or out on leave.
Full-time sworn officers, Lodi and three comparison cities, 2006–2025
Counts as of October 31 each year. Source: California DOJ OpenJustice, Law Enforcement Personnel 1991–2025.
Lodi had 76 sworn officers in 2006, 65 in 2017 and 70 in 2025. Over the same years Tracy grew to 104 and Turlock to 84, and Manteca added officers after 2016. Lodi's authorized strength of 80 is higher than any October payroll count since at least 2006.
Neighbors face the same problems
Stockton is authorized for 425 sworn officers and employed 365 on February 3, 2026. It ended 2025 with 63 sworn vacancies. It hired 50 officers in 2025 and lost 52, and 38 of those who left were new hires who resigned or failed probation (City of Stockton Civil Service Commission agenda, April 16, 2026).
Manteca is dealing with the same kind of leave Lodi describes. In September 2026 its chief asked to "overhire" three officers above the department's 83 sworn positions because officers on workers' compensation leave had strained shift coverage. Three had been unable to work since traumatic incidents in June and October 2025 (Manteca Bulletin, Sept. 2026). In November, Manteca moved to add positions funded by a fee on new homes, which would take it to 88 sworn positions (Manteca Bulletin, Nov. 2, 2026).
Lodi's application says the department expects "some relief" when its 17 trainees finish. Stockton's numbers show the risk: many new officers don't make it through probation.
What the $110,000 Buys
Most of the grant pays for officer overtime on 60 planned operations. The rest covers training travel and checkpoint supplies. The money comes from three federal sources: $65,000 for impaired driving, $35,000 for general traffic safety and $10,000 for distracted driving (Council packet, Schedule B, pp. 31 and 37).
| Operation | Number | Budget |
|---|---|---|
| DUI and driver's-license checkpoints | 5 | $40,050 |
| DUI saturation patrols (extra officers looking for impaired drivers) | 15 | $21,000 |
| Traffic enforcement aimed at main crash causes | 13 | $12,675 |
| Distracted-driving enforcement | 10 | $9,852 |
| Collaborative traffic enforcement with other agencies | 5 | $8,750 |
| Pedestrian and bicycle enforcement | 8 | $7,440 |
| Motorcycle safety enforcement | 2 | $1,950 |
| Warrant service for repeat DUI offenders | 2 | $1,850 |
| Total operations and overtime, before benefits | 60 | $103,567 |
Remaining costs: $1,554 in overtime benefits, $3,723 in training travel and $1,156 in checkpoint supplies. Source: Council packet, Schedule B, p. 37.
The department will hold driver's-license checks at every DUI checkpoint to catch unlicensed drivers, who are more likely to flee a crash. It will also send traffic and DUI officers to state-required training. It must file claims and progress reports with OTS each quarter, on January 30, April 30, July 30 and October 30, and a final evaluation when the year ends (Council packet, pp. 30–36).
The grant year began October 1, but the agreement says costs incurred before it is fully signed "may not be reimbursed." Any grant-style overtime worked in October was at the City's risk until the Council accepted the grant and the agreement was signed (Council packet, p. 30).
What to Watch
- The Lodi Police Department's annual reports and statistics page, to see whether the 2026 collision total counts calls or documented crashes.
- The City's Agenda Center for the November 4 minutes and future police staffing items.
- OTS crash rankings for Lodi and the UC Berkeley Transportation Injury Mapping System (TIMS), which maps reported injury crashes.
- The DOJ OpenJustice data portal for the October 31, 2026 staffing survey, usually released the following summer.
- Lodi411's Lodi Police Reports for daily calls, including traffic stops, crash calls and DUI calls.
LodiEye is the original civic-reporting and analysis arm of Lodi411.com, a citizen-run civic data and transparency platform serving Lodi, California and San Joaquin County. LodiEye gathers information of public interest, applies editorial judgment to public records, meetings, and data, and publishes original explanatory reporting for its readers — the work of a newsroom, and a representative of the news media as that term is defined under federal law. Our reporting emphasizes primary sources, public data, and full source transparency so readers can check every claim. LodiEye complements, and does not replace, the other outlets covering this region; for additional reporting on Lodi, San Joaquin County, and the broader region, we also encourage readers to consult the Lodi News-Sentinel, Stocktonia, The Sacramento Bee, CalMatters, and other established news organizations. Our full editorial standards and news-media-status statement is published at lodi411.com/editorial-standards.
This LodiEye report was produced using artificial intelligence tools under the direction and review of the founder. Lodi411 uses multiple AI platforms in its research and publication workflow, including Anthropic’s Claude (primarily Opus and Sonnet models) and Perplexity AI across a variety of large language models offered by each. These tools were used in the following capacities:
Source Discovery: AI-assisted search and retrieval located the Lodi Police Department's OTS grant agreement and application in the November 4, 2026 Council packet, the department's 2021, 2023, 2024 and 2025 annual reports and statistics page, OTS crash rankings, the California Department of Justice law-enforcement personnel survey and agency identifier list, Department of Finance population estimates, Stockton's 2026 police workforce report and Manteca Bulletin coverage of Manteca police staffing.
Credibility Validation: Crash, arrest, staffing and budget figures were transcribed from the scanned grant application pages and checked against the agreement's budget tables. Agency staffing counts were matched to agencies through the DOJ's published agency identifiers. Annual crash, DUI and injury totals come from the department's count; the Lodi411 call record is used only for rates, timing and locations.
Analysis and Synthesis: Claude Opus and Sonnet assisted in analyzing 46,547 Lodi Police calls for service recorded by Lodi411 from November 6, 2024, through November 5, 2026. Lodi411 did not receive the department's log on 56 of those 730 days. Annual totals come from the Lodi Police Department's count in its grant application, not from the Lodi411 record. Rates divide calls by the 674 days with a log; missing days were excluded rather than estimated. Year-to-year comparisons use March through October of each year, when both years have nearly complete coverage. Call types reflect the classification at dispatch. Street assignments use the first street named in each call's block address. Sworn officers per 1,000 residents divide DOJ full-time sworn counts outside jail duty as of October 31, 2025, by Department of Finance estimates for January 1, 2026.
Presentation: Claude assisted in drafting, structuring, and formatting the report for clarity and readability, including the crash, comparison, street, staffing and budget tables and the five charts.
Final Review: Multiple AI models reviewed the completed draft for factual consistency, source attribution accuracy, logical coherence, and balanced presentation. Throughout the process, the editor sets the report's goals, scope, and tone; creates and shapes draft content; reviews and edits the report; integrates independent fact checks; and reviews the AI cross-checks and validations. Multi-tool cross-checking across independent models and sources is the primary error-reduction mechanism.
Lodi411/LodiEye believes that transparency about how our research is produced — including our use of AI under human direction — strengthens trust with readers and the broader information ecosystem. Readers who spot an error are encouraged to write editor@lodi411.com so we can correct it.
References
- City of Lodi — City Council agenda packet, Nov. 4, 2026, item C.2, OTS grant agreement PT27085 and application (pp. 28–53).
- Lodi Police Department — 2025 Annual Report.
- Lodi Police Department — 2024 Annual Report.
- Lodi Police Department — 2021 Annual Report.
- Lodi Police Department — 2023 Annual Report.
- Lodi News-Sentinel — Lodi PD: Assaults top crime calls; city sees significant drop in vehicle thefts, traffic collisions, July 2026.
- Lodi Police Department — Statistics.
- California Office of Traffic Safety — Crash rankings, Lodi, 2023.
- California Department of Justice OpenJustice — Law Enforcement Personnel, 1991–2025.
- California Department of Justice OpenJustice — Agency identifier list (ORI to agency name), 2024.
- California Department of Finance — E-1 City and County Population Estimates, Jan. 1, 2026.
- City of Stockton — Civil Service Commission agenda, April 16, 2026, Police Department workforce report.
- Manteca Bulletin — Manteca Police seek to overhire 3 officers to bridge staff crunch, Sept. 2026.
- Manteca Bulletin — New city growth now paying 100% for more Manteca police, Nov. 2, 2026.
- Lodi News-Sentinel — Lodi City Council weighs accepting traffic enforcement grant, Nov. 3, 2026.
- UC Berkeley SafeTREC — Transportation Injury Mapping System (TIMS).
- Lodi411 — Lodi Police Reports (calls for service, Nov. 6, 2024–Nov. 5, 2026).
Questions, tips or corrections: editor@lodi411.com