A new fact sheet from the Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice finds that, despite the implementation of large-scale criminal justice reforms, California’s urban crime rates remained stable from 2010 through early 2016. The report uses recently released FBI crime data from the first six months of 2016 to compare rates of property and violent crime across cities and over time.
Statewide trends in urban crime, January-June (2010 to 2016)Sources: FBI (2017); DOF (2017). Note: Violent crime rates exclude rape because the definition was broadened in 2013 but law enforcement agency reporting of rape offenses did not become consistent until 2015.
The report finds that:
- Total urban crime fell 3 percent in the first half of 2016 compared to the first half of 2015. This decline was driven by a 4 percent reduction in property offenses and a 4 percent increase in reported violent crime.
- Following decades of decline, California’s urban crime rate remained relatively stable between 2010 and 2016. Throughout this seven-year period, property crime declined by 1 percent and violent crime increased by 3 percent, yielding no net change in the total crime rate.
- Crime rates have remained low and stable through an era of criminal justice reform, including Public Safety Realignment in 2011 and Proposition 47 in 2014.
- One-year changes in the crime rate varied considerably across California’s 69 largest cities. Overall, 28 cities reported increased total crime during this one year period, and 41 cities reported declines. From early 2015 to early 2016, 46 cities reported increased violent crime rates and 44 reported decreased property crime rates.