California crime rates fall to record lows in 2025, DOJ says

The DOJ released six separate statistical crime reports for 2025 data, covering crime categories such as homicides, hate crimes, uses of force, and juvenile justice.

“The proof is in the pudding,” Bonta said. “It’s in the data.”

Last year saw the lowest homicide rate in California since the DOJ started tracking data in 1966 with a total of 1,374 homicides in 2025, Bonta said. Homicides dropped by about 18% in 2025 versus 2024.

In the Bay Area, counties that saw the greatest reductions in homicides from 2024 to 2025 include Alameda County with a 43% drop, San Mateo County with a 58% drop, and Santa Cruz County with a 67% drop. However, homicides in Sonoma County nearly tripled and in Monterey County, they more than doubled, according to the report on homicides.

Significant reductions in 2025 compared to 2024 include the statewide violent crime rate dropping by 10%, the property crime rate decreasing by 14%, motor vehicle theft decreasing by 26%, and the robbery rate dropping by 20%.

Categories that saw smaller reductions include rape dropping by 6%, hate crimes decreasing by 3%, aggravated assault decreasing by 6%, and burglary dropping by 9%.

Bonta pointed out that crime reductions coincided with a rise in arrests, which rose by 4% in 2025 compared to 2024.

“We’re deterring potential crimes by making it clear that there will be a consequence,” he said. “You will be arrested if you commit a crime and held proportionately accountable for the offense that you committed in our society and against the victims that you hurt.”

Even though hate crimes have gone down slightly overall, hate crimes against Latinos rose by more than 30% in 2025 versus 2024. That’s a 211% increase since 2016.

There was also a 23% rise in hate crimes against transgender people last year compared to 2024.

“We need to continue to tackle hate crimes,” Bonta said. “There’s no room for hate against any community, and so we definitely have more work to do.”

He blamed the rise in hate crimes against Latinos and transgender people on President Donald Trump, who has implemented a strict crackdown against migration through increasing immigration raids and deportations of Latinos. He has also introduced anti-transgender policies.

“When our president, his administration, and members of his party continue to spout racist, xenophobic, and transphobic rhetoric. ... When the people leading our country attack our diverse communities, spread misinformation, and fan the flames of division, we can’t be all too surprised to see the numbers that follow,” Bonta said.

The reports also found a 7% drop in juvenile arrests in 2025 versus 2024, and a 33% decline in unserialized ghost guns recovered since 2021.

Gov. Gavin Newsom applauded the crime reductions, pointing to myriad factors that may have contributed to the drop in overall crime.

“These results show that when we invest in our communities, support law enforcement, crack down on organized crime, and expand prevention and intervention efforts, we can save lives and improve public safety,” Newsom said in a statement.

While Bonta and Newsom may have political disagreements with the Trump administration, Bonta emphasized the need to boost coordination.

“California DOJ welcomes that collaboration from the federal administration down through our local partners,” Bonta said. “We welcome it, we invite it, because public safety is and always should be above politics.”