The Police IndexStop data: 2024 ยท Pay and hiring checked Nov 2026

What the work looks like, ranked

Shares of each department's own stops in 2024. Based on 204,621 people stopped across 11 departments.

Harbor Police does the most stops on foot: 47%

Harbor Police47%
El Cajon Police43%
Escondido Police41%
San Diego Police37%
La Mesa Police35%
Oceanside Police31%
Chula Vista Police23%
Sheriff21%
Carlsbad Police16%
Coronado Police7%
National City Police5%

Harbor Police works the most overnight stops: 29%

Harbor Police29%
La Mesa Police26%
Coronado Police22%
National City Police22%
Chula Vista Police21%
Escondido Police21%
Carlsbad Police20%
San Diego Police20%
Oceanside Police16%
Sheriff14%
El Cajon Police14%

Harbor Police ends the most stops with a warning: 59%

Harbor Police59%
Coronado Police58%
Escondido Police50%
Sheriff37%
Oceanside Police37%
Carlsbad Police36%
Chula Vista Police32%
El Cajon Police30%
San Diego Police30%
La Mesa Police28%
National City Police20%

Chula Vista Police writes the most citations per stop: 45%

Chula Vista Police45%
Sheriff42%
Carlsbad Police38%
Oceanside Police37%
La Mesa Police36%
Coronado Police34%
El Cajon Police30%
San Diego Police30%
National City Police23%
Harbor Police19%
Escondido Police16%

La Mesa Police makes the most arrests per stop: 22%

La Mesa Police22%
Escondido Police18%
San Diego Police15%
El Cajon Police14%
Oceanside Police12%
Chula Vista Police11%
Sheriff10%
Harbor Police8%
Carlsbad Police7%
National City Police4%
Coronado Police3%

Escondido Police has the most stops that start with a call: 34%

Escondido Police34%
La Mesa Police28%
Harbor Police23%
El Cajon Police21%
Oceanside Police21%
Chula Vista Police19%
National City Police16%
San Diego Police14%
Carlsbad Police12%
Sheriff8%
Coronado Police8%
These are shares of stops, not counts of calls. A department with a high share of foot stops may still do most of its work in cars.