Newsom expands CHP crime suppression teams across California cities

Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday announced an expansion of California Highway Patrol crime suppression teams across major California cities, saying the state will deploy additional officers immediately to work with local law enforcement in Los Angeles, San Diego, Sacramento, the Inland Empire, the Central Valley and the San Francisco Bay Area. The move follows earlier CHP deployments in Oakland, Bakersfield and San Bernardino and is intended to bring more personnel, intelligence and targeted enforcement to high crime areas, state officials said.

Newsom said the operations will be "targeted" and "data driven," and that the state will pair CHP teams with local police to focus on repeat offenders, illicit weapons and narcotics. Jaime Coffee, a CHP communications director, said the teams will be established in six CHP divisions and will range in size, with a baseline of about 12 to 15 officers per team that can grow depending on the scope and community needs. Coffee said all teams are expected to be operational within about two weeks.

The governor and his office touted results from earlier CHP partnerships. Officials credited those efforts with more than 9,000 arrests statewide, the...