The San Diego Police Department is stopping fewer drivers than in past years, while traffic deaths have increased significantly.
San Diego Police Department spokesperson Lt. Cesar Jimenez said new reporting requirements, staffing issues and other priorities account for the reduction in stops.
But the department and local advocates agree that enforcement is a key piece of the city’s Vision Zero goal of reducing traffic deaths to zero.
“We are not intending for, traffic collisions to go up or traffic deaths to go up, obviously,” Lt. Jimenez said. “But it’s more to kind of look into. And if ultimately the community says, hey, we need more traffic enforcement, then that’s something that our leadership will look into. And if we need to move, some folks, then we’ll do that.”
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Other cities are looking at automating that enforcement, with speed and red-light cameras.
A KPBS analysis of publicly available police data shows that the San Diego Police Department conducted 144,165 traffic stops in 2014; but by 2019 that number had fallen to just 75,320.
SDPD initiated 62,071 traffic stops in 2024, a 56.9% reduction since 2014.
Meanwhile, traffic deaths have increased significantly in that timeframe.
According to the San Diego Association of Governments traffic safety dashboard which relies on data from the Statewide Integrated Traffic Records System (SWITRS), there were 78 reported traffic fatalities in San Diego in 2014.
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SWITRS data compiled by the UC Berkeley Transportation Injury Mapping System shows there were 115 traffic in 2024 deaths – an increase of 47.4%.
From 2014–2019, records show there were fewer than 100 traffic deaths in San Diego each year. Since 2020, there have been more than 100 deaths each year, peaking at 124 in 2022.
Lt. Jimenez said there are several reasons why traffic stops have decreased, but one is the introduction of the California Racial and Identity Profiling Act (RIPA) in 2015.
This policy took effect in 2018 and requires all law enforcement agencies to report demographic data to the state Attorney General’s office. Lt. Jimenez said those reports could take as long as 20 minutes to complete after pulling over a vehicle.
“Every time an officer stops somebody, they have to fill out a RIPA form,” Lt. Jimenez said. “So in it, it’s about 30 questions, depending on the stop in and of itself, and how many people were, for example, in a vehicle. If they stop three people in a vehicle and they get their information, they’ve got to fill out a report card for each person.”
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Lt. Jimenez said body-worn cameras also add time to the process when officers have to enter metadata into a system. He said while these requirements have been a key part of accountability, and a benefit to SDPD officers, they mean police can’t stop vehicles as regularly and consistently.
“The second point to consider is that we have changed to a model of more focused enforcement, and more– not just enforcement, but also focus on the things that matter to our communities,” Lt. Jimenez said.
He pointed to the neighborhood policing team that is dedicated to helping homeless people and connecting them with shelter and services. The Community and Youth Services division is another area of focus for the department, where officers are going to schools to talk with kids, and going to meetings and answering questions to help with community problems.
Those efforts have taken a “good amount” of officers that would have been patrolling and making traffic stops, he said.
Jimenez also pointed to a reduction in the number of officers on the force.
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“We just have fewer officers, we have fewer officers, in general. And [compared to] this time last year, we have about 85 fewer officers,” Jimenez said.
The sworn officer to population ratio in San Diego was 1.43 officers per 1,000 in 2024 according to a 2025 SANDAG report. That’s lower than the national average of 2.4.
Meanwhile, San Diego’s crime rate of roughly 20 crimes per 1000 people is the lowest of any city in America with over 1 million people, according to 2024 FBI data.
Voice of San Diego, a non-profit partner of KPBS, reported in 2023 that all police stops, not just traffic stops, were down significantly.
Police leaders acknowledged at the time that the protests in 2020 over the death of George Floyd at the hands of a police officer in Minnesota were partially responsible.
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“No one wants to be the next viral video,” SDPD Captain Jeff Jordon told Voice of San Diego at the time.
Former president of the San Diego Police Officers Association Jared Wilson told Voice at the time that officers had likely been reassigned from doing proactive stops, and were responding to calls instead. He said he thinks that’s partly why traffic deaths increased as well.
The SDPOA declined to comment for this story.
San Diego is not alone. A 2023 NPR report said traffic deaths had increased nationwide, while police departments across the country were pulling over fewer drivers.
And statewide data from the California Court Statistics Report shows that case filings for infractions, which includes traffic violations like speeding or running a red light, and traffic misdemeanors, like DUIs and reckless driving, are down 42% and 67% respectively since 2014.
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Fatalities are higher across the state as well, according to the SWITRS data going back to 2015. That year there were 3,435 deaths on California’s roads. In 2022, the number peaked at 4,537 roadway deaths – a 32% increase. In 2024, there were 3,786 reported deaths; a decrease from the peak, but still higher than in 2015.
Aria Grossman from Circulate San Diego, a local transportation advocacy group, said San Diego’s Vision Zero goals can’t be accomplished without adequate enforcement of traffic safety laws.
The city is considering lowering speed limits on several streets in an effort to improve safety, but Grossman said those efforts need to be coupled with enforcement.
“Safer speeds is a key, you know, tenant of the safe systems approach, and efforts to reduce speed limits, like the efforts that the city of San Diego are undergoing, like as we speak…will literally have no effect if these new speed limits and laws aren’t enforced,” Grossman said.
Grossman said building safer infrastructure is another important way to improve road safety. Speed bumps, roundabouts, better crosswalks and reducing lanes are noted in the city’s Vision Zero documents.
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The city is currently reviewing an update to the street design manual which informs how traffic engineers should design city streets. But these physical improvements to roadways also take time to implement and money.
“I’m sure everyone in the city of San Diego is very familiar with the budget woes that the city is facing,” Grossman said.
Roadway safety projects like those in the city’s mobility plan go through an extensive process of planning, engagement, and budgeting before construction, which is ultimately subject to approval by the Mayor and City Council.
But other cities are looking at ways to improve safety more quickly through enforcement without increasing police patrols.
California passed a law in 2023 establishing a pilot speed camera program in six cities, including Los Angeles and San Francisco, but not San Diego.
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The City of Encinitas is also re-evaluating red light cameras after the death of a 12-year-old crossing a busy street.
Emery Chalekian was killed while crossing Encinitas Boulevard in April. Her mother Bridget is urging the city to re-install the camera systems that she said could have saved her daughter’s life.
“She followed the law. She trusted the system that is supposed to protect pedestrians, and that system failed her,” Chalekian told KPBS Public Matters partner inewsource.
Privacy advocates have recently raised concerns about surveillance in light of the city’s continued use of cameras that read license plates. State law creates limits on how this data can be used, but police departments routinely access privately-held data from these systems.
The bill that established the speed camera pilot program has stricter safeguards. It requires cities in the pilot to create comprehensive policies around privacy, including prohibiting facial recognition and limiting data collection and storage. And it explicitly prohibits non-public agencies from collecting or accessing that data.
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A radar feedback sign in the Crown Point neighborhood of Pacific Beach in San Diego. Feb. 21 2026
“Measures that get at making our streets safer, but eliminate some of that bias that can come with, you know, active police enforcement, are something that Circulate is supportive of and are net-positive in our communities,” Grossman said.
Lt. Jimenez agreed that automated enforcement options could be useful in keeping streets safe.
“As long as…the courts allow us to use that kind of technology, I think that would be helpful as well,” Lt. Jimenez said.
As cities like San Diego grapple with budget issues and understaffed police departments, the options for curtailing deaths on the roadways remain limited.
36.9 — The percentage of groundballs that Márquez yielded in 2025, a career low and significantly below his career average (48%). Márquez’s groundball rate was regularly above 50% before requiring Tommy John surgery in early 2023. He made one start in 2024 and struggled mightily while making 26 starts last year.
TRENDING
Down — Márquez had a 4.40 ERA through his first seven years in the majors, not bad considering he pitched roughly half his games at one of the best hitting environments in the majors. In fact, Márquez has a 5.17 ERA in his career at Coors Field and a 4.22 ERA in road environments. But Márquez underwent Tommy John surgery early in 2023, made one start in the majors in mid-July in 2024 (4 IP, 3 ER) and struggled throughout his first full year back in the Rockies rotation. The season was so difficult for Márquez that he was actually worse on the road (7.32 ERA) than he was in 11 starts at Coors Field (5.98 ERA). His strikeout rate (5.9 per nine innings) and strikeout-to-walk ratio (1.73) were the worst of his careers, as was his walk rate (3.4 per nine innings), while his hit rate (12.0 per nine innings) was the second worst of his career. On top of that, Márquez’s groundball rate was also the lowest of his career (see stat to note) and ranked in the bottom 22nd percentile of the league and his hard-hit rate (48.5%) and average exit velocity (91.7 mph) both ranked in the bottom 2 percentile of the league. One reason: a 94.8 mph four-seamer is down a few ticks than the height of his effectiveness. Márquez reached free agency after the season and signed with the Padres in February.
2026 OUTLOOK
Márquez has a big-league deal with the Padres, but he’ll have to rediscover his pre-elbow-reconstruction form to hold onto a roster spot, as RHP Griffin Canning (Achilles) is expected to push for a spot at some point this season and the likes of LHP JP Sears, RHP Matt Waldron and minor league signees like Marco Gonzales could warrant looks if Márquez’s struggles continue into 2026.
German Marquez #33 of the San Diego Padres participates in drills during spring training workouts at the Peoria Sports Complex on Monday, Feb. 16, 2026 in Peoria, Ariz.(Meg McLaughlin / The San Diego Union-Tribune)
In today’s Daily Dirt, I mentioned that the search at San Diego was done. Here’s the official announcement from USD on the hiring of JR Blount as their next head men’s basketball coach:
University of San Diego Athletics has named JR Blount the 15th head coach in San Diego men’s basketball program history, USD Associate Vice President and Executive Director of Athletics Kimya Massey announced on Monday.
Blount arrives in San Diego with a reputation as one of college basketball’s rising coaching talents after helping lead Iowa State to four NCAA Tournament appearances in four seasons.
He joins the Toreros after five seasons on T.J. Otzelberger’s staff at Iowa State, where the Cyclones compiled a 95-45 record during his tenure, won the 2024 Big 12 Tournament Championship and reached the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 in 2022 and 2024 — one of the most successful stretches in program history. Iowa State finished in the AP Top 15 in each of those four seasons and climbed as high as No. 2 nationally in each of the last two years. During the 2025-26 season, the Cyclones opened with a 16-0 start, highlighted by victories over No. 1 Purdue, No. 2 Houston, No. 9 Kansas and No. 14 St. John’s.
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“After a thorough and highly competitive national search, we are proud to welcome JR Blount as the next head coach of USD men’s basketball,” said Massey. “JR is an outstanding leader, a relentless competitor and one of the brightest rising coaches in college basketball. Even more importantly, throughout this process I came to know him as a humble leader with strong integrity and deep family values. JR has been a part of winning at every level of his career and understands what it takes to build a program that competes with toughness, discipline and consistency. Just as importantly, he believes in developing young men holistically and leading in a way that reflects the values of this university.
“This is a pivotal moment for our program and JR’s vision aligns with our belief that San Diego men’s basketball should compete in the upper tier of the WCC and position itself to be a regular NCAA Tournament participant. We are excited about what lies ahead under his leadership.”
“As a product of Catholic education and deeply committed to USD’s mission and values, Coach Blount is an outstanding role model for the young men in our Torero basketball program,” said USD President James T. Harris III. “He brings an impressive resume with deep experience, a winning track record and — above all — a commitment to the overall wellbeing of our student-athletes.”
“I’m incredibly honored and grateful for the opportunity to lead USD men’s basketball,” Blount said. “We are so thankful to Athletic Director Kimya Massey and President Harris for this opportunity. This is more than just a coaching position for me — it’s a chance to become part of a community and build something meaningful. My wife and our three daughters are excited to make this move together and we can’t wait to invest in this university and the relationships that make it special.
I come to USD with a deep desire to win — to compete relentlessly, to develop our young men to their fullest potential and to build a program our fans can be proud of. Winning championships is important, but so is building a culture of toughness, accountability and love. We’re going to work every day to represent USD the right way, on and off the court. I’m ready to get started.”
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Blount played a key role in Iowa State’s rise under Otzelberger, helping orchestrate one of the most significant program turnarounds in recent Division I history. In his first season with the Cyclones in 2021-22, Iowa State rebounded from a two-win campaign the year before to finish 22-13 and advance to the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16. The Cyclones quickly established a national reputation for defensive toughness, ranking among the nation’s best in scoring defense, defensive efficiency, steals and turnovers forced.
Over the next three seasons, Blount helped Iowa State sustain that momentum. In 2022-23, the Cyclones advanced to the NCAA Tournament and recorded nine wins over AP Top 25 opponents, tied for the most in school history. In 2023-24, Iowa State won the Big 12 Championship, finished 29-8, posted an undefeated 18-0 record at Hilton Coliseum and advanced to the Sweet 16. Most recently, the 2024-25 Cyclones finished 25-10, climbed as high as No. 2 in the Associated Press poll, earned another NCAA Tournament appearance and closed the season ranked No. 17 nationally.
Known for his work in player development, recruiting and culture-building, Blount has mentored multiple all-conference and All-America caliber players throughout his coaching career. At Iowa State, he developed some of the Big 12’s top performers while contributing to a program identity rooted in toughness, connectivity and competitive excellence.
Prior to Iowa State, Blount spent three seasons at Colorado State, where he helped elevate the Rams into one of the Mountain West’s top programs. During his tenure in Fort Collins, Colorado State signed the highest-rated recruiting class in program history and posted consecutive 20-win seasons, including a 20-8 finish and a run to the NIT semifinals in 2020-21. He also played a leadership role in Colorado State’s Together Initiative, which promoted social justice and racial equality on campus.
Blount also previously served in coaching roles at Drake and Saint Leo and began his collegiate coaching career as a graduate assistant at Wisconsin-Stevens Point, where the program won the 2010 NCAA Division III National Championship.
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A former three-year team captain and two-time team MVP at Loyola University Chicago, Blount later played professionally for the Leicester Riders of the British Basketball League during the 2010-11 season. He earned degrees in psychology and sociology from Loyola in 2009 and later received his master’s degree in education from UW-Stevens Point in 2012.
A native of Milwaukee, Blount and his wife, Ashley, have three daughters: Maya, Zuri and Gema.
UNIVERSITY CITY (KGTV) — San Diego police are investigating the death of an 81-year-old woman who was found unresponsive in her apartment in the 6300 block of Genesee Avenue.
Officers and San Diego Fire-Rescue personnel responded to a 9-1-1 call at about 11:56 p.m. on March 6.
First responders found the woman in her bedroom, unresponsive and “positioned awkwardly on a bed.” Despite immediate life-saving efforts, she was pronounced dead at the scene.
Detectives from the San Diego Police Department’s Homicide Unit were called to the scene due to “unusual circumstances,” police said. The cause and manner of death remain undetermined.
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Investigators are working with the San Diego County Medical Examiner’s Office to determine what happened.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Homicide Unit at (619) 531-2293 or Crime Stoppers at (888) 580-8477.
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