SAN FRANCISCO – April 3, 2019 – A new fact sheet from the Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice finds that, during a period of large-scale criminal justice reform including Proposition 47 and Public Safety Realignment, California’s urban crime rates have declined. The report compares recently released FBI crime statistics on 73 cities for the first six months of 2018 to early-year crime data for the prior eight years.
The fact sheet finds:
- California experienced a 5 percent decline in its total urban crime rate in the first half of 2018, including a nearly 13 percent decline in the rate of homicide and a 9.5 percent drop in the rate of motor vehicle theft.
- The state’s urban crime rate in early 2018 is the third lowest ever recorded, as rates have declined precipitously in recent decades. These historically low urban crime rates have persisted through an era of justice reform.
- Local crime trends vary city to city, with most of California’s 73 largest cities seeing declines in crime rates from 2017 to 2018. Overall, 17 cities reported increased total crime rates during this one-year period, and 56 cities showed decreases.
For more information about this topic or to schedule an interview, please contact CJCJ Communications at (415) 621‑5661 x. 103 or cjcjmedia@cjcj.org.