Is Dixon Getting More Dangerous?

Dixon is a pretty safe place to live.

We don’t have the , , , and other incidents that police call part one crimes. But crime does exist in Dixon. We see it daily on the police logs supplied by the

Last month during the address, sponsored by the , Dixon Police Chief Jon Cox told those in attendance that what’s happening in the city is rare.

Dixon saw a 30 percent reduction in part one crimes in 2009; In 2010, the city saw another decrease of 12 percent in the same type of crimes. In 2011 police saw another reduction of 26 percent in part one crimes.

It’s a trend that Cox attributes to solid police work, and most of all, the way that Dixon residents are involved in their community and work alongside police to help them solve crimes.

It’s this form of community policing that makes the officers’ jobs a bit easier. Surely, there are many crimes that police have yet to solve, but when you compare the type of crimes that neighboring cities such as Vacaville and Fairfield deal with, the relationship between the police and Dixon residents is looking pretty good.

But Cox is not naïve.

He knows that at any given moment, the crime rate can jump. And Chief Cox and his staff are ever vigilant of this.

There’s a controversial policy floating out there in law enforcement called Realignment that went into effect in October 2011.

It’s a way for the state to alleviate some of their budget costs by having convicts serve out their sentences in county jails instead of prison. In addition, state prisoners who are finished serving their sentences can be supervised by the Solano County Probation Department, instead of the state's parole department.

Under realignment, non-non-nons (non violent, non serious, non sex offender crimes) can serve their time in local jails. Previously, an offender could only serve up to a year in a county jail.

As the county jails fill up with this new wave of convicts, people charged with lesser crimes would presumably be released from jail to serve out their sentences in other ways - think house arrests.

Although the responsibility of receiving these individuals falls largely on the shoulders of the Solano County Sheriff’s Department, who run the county's jails, police departments throughout the county are also involved in the policing of these individuals, especially when the jails fill up and others are released to the community.

It’s not yet known the full impact of Realignment to communities, but law enforcement professionals share some concerns. Mainly, funding, room inside the jails and of course, the recidivism rate among the people who would otherwise be in jail if it not for Realignment.

By and large Dixon is a safe place to live, when compared to surrounding cities, but two carjackings this year (stories and )  beg the question “How much longer?”