(CALMATTERS) – Violent crime and property crimes ticked up in California last year, while murders were down, according to an annual report the Attorney General’s office released just before the holiday weekend.
The office also issued an additional report on guns used in crimes — the first time the state has released an analysis on trends relating to “firearms that are illegally possessed, have been used in a crime, or are suspected of having been used in a crime.”
While the number of homicides in California declined from 2,361 in 2021 to 2,206 in 2022, other types of violent crimes — including robbery and assault — rose 6% last year.
The number of reported property crimes, such as burglary and theft, have gone down since 2017, with the exception of 2022, which saw a 6.2% increase.
Some Republicans suggest that Democrats are “in denial” about crime in California and that they should abandon their soft-on-crime approach.
- Senate GOP leader Brian Jones, from El Cajon: “Sadly, we are not surprised to learn that California’s violent and property crime rates increased in 2022.”
Gov. Newsom has addressed growing public concern over crime rates by fulfilling some promises he said would reform the criminal justice system, while also boosting crime-fighting efforts.
The gun death rate in California is far below the national average, and the state has some of the nation’s strictest gun laws. But after multiple mass shootings earlier this year, the Newsom administration sought to strengthen gun safety legislation. After the state was hit with a spike in retail theft last year, Newsom heightened the presence of police at shopping centers ahead of the holiday shopping season. And most recently, after a spate of burglaries in San Francisco’s downtown, Newsom told the San Francisco Chronicle that he plans to double state police in the city.
Other highlights from the 2022 report:
- Gun violence accounted for 75% of all homicides last year.
- The homicide rate decreased 5% in 2022 to 5.7 per 100,000 people, compared to the historic high of 12.9 in 1993.
- Homicide arrests also went down, by 4.2% from 1,550 in 2021 to 1,480 in 2022.
- Merced County had the highest homicide rate; Santa Cruz County, the lowest.