The first half of the year has seen a dramatic reduction in homicides in Stockton and a rise in the number of cases solved, police data show.
The number of people dying at the hands of another has fallen 34% – from 29 in the first six months of 2024 to 19 during the same period in 2025, according to Stockton police reports.
Not only were there fewer homicides in the first six months of 2025, but detectives are solving more of the cases. The department’s “clearance rate” was 68.4%. In Stockton, a case becomes cleared once a homicide suspect is arrested and booked into the county jail.
Last year, Stockton’s police detective squad finished 2024 with a homicide clearance rate of about 50%, close to the national average of 52%, based on 2022 statistics from the Council on Criminal Justice, a nonpartisan, nonprofit crime think tank.
“Our detectives and field evidence technicians have done an amazing job,” said Officer Omer Edhah, a spokesman for the Stockton Police Department. He attributed the decrease in homicides and increase in the clearance rate to several factors.
For starters, more citizen tips are coming in through the Stockton Crime Stoppers hotline, which paid out $44,000 in rewards after arrests last year.
Patrol officers are also being encouraged to be more proactive, he said, checking out suspicious situations and talking to people on the street, rather than simply rolling from one radio call to another.
“Our patrol officers are conducting phenomenal proactive work, with an increase of 91% in proactivity this year compared to last,” Edhah said.
Even with the drop in numbers, the homicides this year have been no less tragic, including the shooting deaths of several young men.
Julian Martinez, 17, was fatally shot in February in Anderson Park, where he had gone skateboarding. Three boys – ages 13, 14 and 16 – were arrested on suspicion of murder in connection with the slaying.
There also have been instances of multiple killings. Jessie Hilliard Jr., 19, and Antwane Perkins, 27, were shot to death on Memorial Day. Two teenaged suspects, a 16-year-old boy and a 19-year-old man, were taken into custody in that case.
And while many of the homicides have been attributed to gun violence, not all of the killings involved firearms. Last month, a 35-year-old man was found beaten to death on south California Street. Police said the slaying was the result of a domestic dispute.
If the trend of fewer homicides continues through the end of the year, a 34% drop would reverse the 20% increase that Stockton reported in killings in 2024, when the total was 54.
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