Overview

• The California Department of Justice reported an 8% drop in overall crime last year, with violent crime down 6% and property crime down 8.4% compared with 2023.
• Shoplifting bucked the statewide trend by rising 14%, making it the only major crime category to increase in 2024.
• Oakland’s overall crime rate declined even as violent incidents continued to climb, and San Francisco marked its lowest homicide rate in 60 years.
• San Jose’s crime rate reversed earlier gains by climbing back to 2022 levels after the DOJ flagged incomplete data for 2023.
• The DOJ warned that reporting errors—particularly in Oakland’s figures—undermine confidence in direct year-to-year comparisons and signal a need for data revisions.