He said the recent addition of a gunshot detection system known as ShotSpotter in North County is helping. It detects gunshots and alerts police. “About 60 percent of the calls that come in from that system, we wouldn’t have otherwise known about,” Belmar said. “It informs us better on how to use our resources.”

Belmar added that the influx of money coming in from Proposition P will help him better assign resources toward those driving forces behind the homicides and assaults. But police want to do more than push crime around.

“We’re going to displace a lot of this, but the fear is, where does it go? People are not going to move to Memphis. There is always an effect with proactive policing.”

The numbers discussed Wednesday don’t include crimes in municipalities with their own police departments, but the most recent data available suggest homicides are rising countywide.