Stockton Leaves Its Crime-Ridden Past Behind

Major developments are planned for the city, which has struggled for decades with one of the highest crime rates in the state. On line for Stockton are a 5,000 seat baseball stadium and a 10,000 seat soccer and concert arena.

"Working-class Stockton (population 279,000) has California's highest crime rate and a long way to go. But if it once exemplified how a city could be overwhelmed by crack and gangs, defeatism and grime, it is now a case study in how small victories over blight, decay and criminality can refurbish a municipal image."

"The city applied the 'broken windows' theory, championed by Los Angeles Police Chief William J. Bratton first in New York and then in L.A.: Clean up the minor blight — broken windows, abandoned cars, graffiti-scarred walls — and more serious issues of crime and decay will start to fade."