Lubbock Police Has Largest Force in Years- to Protect Against Property Crimes & More

The Lubbock Police Department has announced its first net gain in officers since 2011, and have stated they intend to use the additional manpower to help Lubbock citizens protect their personal property and cars from thieves. According to a recent press release:

Increased Manpower Leads to More Proactive Squads

For the first time since 2011, the Lubbock Police Department is proud to announce a net gain in manpower with a total of 415 sworn officers, the most in the department’s history.

Without changing or lowering standards, the Academy staff and recruiting team brought in more applicants last year than ever before, making it possible to hire 74 new officers. After 12 retirements, 14 resignations and 27 new officers unable to complete training, we saw a net gain of 21 officers join the force in 2016. This comes after four consecutive years of net losses.

Capitalizing on the increased manpower, the Lubbock Police Department will be able to focus on reducing the growing number of property crimes in Lubbock.

Currently, LPD has two Crime Suppression squads that proactively work to cut down on crimes such as home and vehicle burglaries and stolen vehicles. Last year alone, these eight officers made more than 400 arrests, recovered $3.2 million in stolen property, recovered nearly 200 stolen vehicles and closed more than 300 cases.

With the huge success of these squads and the added manpower to the department, LPD has created two new ‘Street Crimes’ squads to fight the increases in property crimes.

Just like the current squads, these new units will build intelligence on crime hot spots and habitual criminals. Many times a single individual or group is responsible for multiple crimes. These investigators will proactively work to stop those criminal enterprises.

These additional squads will also be fluid and able to adjust to current crime spikes. For example, they will focus on issues such as increased synthetic marijuana cases, package thefts during the holidays, or vehicle burglaries in targeted neighborhoods.

Our goal for 2017 is to continue adding more qualified officers to the department as we focus on ways to be more proactive in protecting our community.

I am super grateful for this, as it seems that everyone I know, myself included, has had issues lately with getting packages stolen. And to the guy that stole my last package- I hope you enjoy 1000 FedEx return labels, ding dong.

In 2016, we reported on dozens of package thefts and store burglaries. Honestly, it was getting to be a very annoying and potentially dangerous epidemic. Most of the crimes were committed at locally owned and operated businesses- meaning it was our neighbors that suffered, much like when Nothing Bundt Cakes was robbed:

Or even more recently, the robbery of Howard's Lawn Equipment:

Not to mention all the cases we heard about package theft, especially during the Christmas season. The best way to protect yourself is to be there to answer the door, but most of us have to work when packages get delivered, and home security cameras can be costly. Luckily, the LPD has taken notice and has taken steps to help minimize this type of crime.