Stockton Police Chief Travis Romney.
When his tenure began, Stockton Police Chief Travis Romney had one goal — to improve communication between the police department and the community.
Just over a year later, Romney said he has been successful in achieving his goal and building a strong relationship with the community and law enforcement partners.
“It’s been amazing,” he said. “I absolutely love it here. This is the type of community that my wife and I ultimately wanted to end up in.”
The Romneys moved to Stockton last June and he said community support has enabled the police department, which is Romney and three reserve officers, to better serve residents. A part-time officer may join the police force later this year, according to Romney.
“I mean, the people of Stockton have just been absolutely amazing,” he said “No longer are (they) people that I just serve, they become my friends and neighbors.”
Romney believes better communication with Stockton residents has created an unexpected side effect — an increase in police calls in the town through the first quarter of 2017.
While the department responded to 248 calls in 2015 and 265 in 2016, Romney said the department is up to 165 calls as of the morning of April 20. The number of arrests seem on pace to outpace previous years as well, with 28 so far this year, compared to 33 in 2015 and 51 in 2016.
The department is handling more calls and making more arrests, but Romney said he doesn’t believe the increase is indicative of rising crime in the town.
“It’s not because I think that there’s a crime wave,” Romney said. “I think that we’re actually handling the calls, whereas before, the Tooele County Sheriff’s Department was having to step in a little bit more and respond to calls.”
Previous police chiefs have not lived in the Town of Stockton and sheriff’s deputies would step in to provide enforcement when the chief was out of the area, according to Romney. He said living in town has enabled him to respond to calls at all time of day, including a vehicle accident at 4:30 a.m. last Thursday.
“So I believe the calls have always been there, it’s just we’re now handling them,” he said.
Improved trust with citizens has led to quick response for crimes in the community, according to Romney.
In one case, a resident noticed a man carrying a five-gallon bucket and walking along the side of the road, Romney said. When the resident questioned the man, he said he was waiting for a ride, but took off at almost a jog after the interaction.
The resident called Stockton police after he considered the interaction suspicious, Romney said.
“Being such a short way away, we were able to find him at the gas station and put it together that he had just burglarized a home and had about $2,500 worth of jewelry and valuables,” he said. “So we were able to recover those and get them back to the family.”
In another case, a resident called dispatch to request police intervention in a domestic situation and requested Stockton police, even though Romney was in Salt Lake County for a family matter. The resident chose to wait for Romney instead of sheriff’s deputies, Romney said.
While Stockton police are trying to handle more calls in the community, the relationship with the Tooele County Sheriff’s Office has also benefited, according to Romney. He said Tooele County Sheriff Paul Wimmer has been a friend and mentor.
“I’ve been doing small-town law enforcement basically my entire career and so I’m used to going on calls and not knowing when backup is going to show up,” Romney said. “It could be 20 minutes away, 35 minutes away. Here it’s been a lot better. Like I said, our relationship with the Tooele County Sheriff’s Department has been amazing.”
Stockton Town Mayor Mark Whitney called his police chief a “great man” and said the town is extremely happy to have chosen Romney.
“He’s the best chief that we’ve actually had here in the Town of Stockton,” Whitney said. “He’s committed to the town and to the residents. He’s become a great community supporter.”