SAN DIEGO — Plans to shut down the San Diego Police Department’s Northwestern Division in Carmel Valley to save money have elicited outcry from residents concerned about the impact on community safety.
San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria first introduced the proposal to consolidate the Northwestern Station, which serves a roughly 40-square-mile area, on April 15 as part of the city’s draft 2026 budget.
The budget includes service cuts and other adjustments to close a projected $258 million deficit over the next year. While the police department will technically see a $29 million budget increase from last year, they are cutting around $1.7 million in expenditures by consolidating the Northwestern Division.
Station personnel will continue to serve the Northwestern area — including Carmel Valley, Del Mar Heights, Sorrento Valley, Torrey Preserve, Torrey Highlands, North City and Black Mountain Ranch — but will be relocated to the Northeastern Division in Rancho Peñasquitos, about 15 minutes away.
Residents’ pushback to the proposal has been swift, with many stating that they will be left behind by the San Diego Police and face longer emergency response times.
“My immediate reaction was pure shock,” said Michelle Strauss, chair of the Carmel Valley Community Planning Group. “The idea that they would then close down our station, take away the senior staff that’s located at that station, and reassign all our patrol officers to Northeastern — it will be detrimental to our community if this happens.”
On Sunday, around 150 residents marched from Torrey Pines High School to the division station to protest the closure, and several spoke at the city of San Diego’s Budget Committee on Monday, urging the city to change their mind.
“The community has done a fantastic job rallying around this issue,” said Adam Fox, who also serves on the Community Planning Group board. “We certainly hope the mayor and the council take our feedback seriously, and if they don’t, we’ll have to get louder.”
At the budget committee’s Monday meeting, Fox shared a personal story about how a quick response by the Northwestern Division led to an arrest after his home was burglarized in 2022.
Fox, who was out of town with his family at the time, called the police after seeing on his doorbell camera that a woman was exiting his home dressed in his children’s clothes. Police arrived within a few minutes of being called and apprehended the suspect, who had fled on foot and had taken the keys to the family’s car.
“When I think about the possibility that those officers would have been coming from 10 miles away, it’s certainly very likely that this individual would still be at large,” Fox said.
While San Diego officials have said the cuts are necessary, they have also stated concerns within the draft budget about the potential negative impacts of closing the Carmel Valley station.
“The consolidation of the Northwestern Division may impact patrol response times and could weaken collaboration between police and residents in surrounding communities. Eliminating detective positions may hamper our ability to solve crimes in a timely manner and will lead to additional workloads for remaining staff,” the draft budget states.
In addition, residents in the Northwestern Division already experience some of the city’s slowest response times, according to data obtained by NBC7.
Data from January and September 2024 indicates that the division had the second-highest average response time for Priority 0 incidents, with an average of 8.8 minutes compared to the goal of 7 minutes.
Priority 0 calls are the most urgent, indicating imminent threats to life or property. The only division with slower Priority 0 response times is Northeastern, where the Northwestern Division will be relocating.
The Northwestern Division also serves dozens of schools within various school districts, including the Del Mar Union, Solana Beach, and San Dieguito Union High School districts. Officials in these districts say the station’s quick response times play a huge role in protecting student safety.
Solana Beach School District board member Katie Suel shared concerns about how student safety, particularly at middle and high schools, will be affected if the station is moved further away.
“When a crisis occurs, or there is a threat on a school campus, seconds matter. Having to wait longer for help is not acceptable,” said Suel.
Members of the San Diego Police Officer Association also share residents’ concerns about the budget proposals, which include cutting overtime, further straining resources and the ability to respond to emergencies.
“The communities in Northwestern Division and the surrounding communities will see service level reductions as officers are spread thin on an already-understaffed police department,” said SDPOA President Jared Wilson. “Cutting a police station and other patrol operations to achieve a few million in cuts is dangerous and irresponsible.”
The city is facing backlash to its proposed budget on multiple fronts, with hundreds of residents pushing back against service cuts designed to save money.
These other cuts include closing all libraries on Sunday and Monday, reducing the library tutoring program, and slashing recreation center operating hours from 60 to 40 hours per week.
