Violent Crime is Not Down in California Despite What Sanctuary State Governor Gavin Newsom Says

California’s Governor Gavin Newsom claims that crime is down.

Spoiler alert – crime in California is not down. This is Gov. Newsom gaslighting, trying to look good to a national audience, and trying to get ahead of his budget which does not properly fund voter-approved Proposition 36.

Making crime illegal again, Prop. 36 increased penalties for certain drug crimes by increasing sentence lengths and the level of crime, added fentanyl to the list of drugs (cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamine) that warrant a felony charge, increased sentences based on the quantity of certain drugs sold illegally, and increased penalties for certain theft crimes.

The left-leaning Public Policy Institute of California gave Newsom an assist with a blog post: “Crime in California Is Trending Downward, New Data Suggests.”

“Preliminary data suggests property and violent crimes in California were down in 2024,” Gov. Newsom’s press release says.

“But the preliminary data relies on only 29 law enforcement agencies. California has well over 500 agencies. It is very incomplete. I’m all for hope, but not for revisionist history on crime,” Yolo County District Attorney Jeff Reisig told the Globe.

This graphic from the PPIC blog post says violent crimes are still higher in California than the rest of the U.S.:

“Property crime overall dropped by 8.5% in 2024 and is down by 10.8% compared to 2019. The biggest decrease was for auto theft, which had jumped notably during the pandemic. In spite of a 11.9% drop in 2024, auto theft remains 23% higher than in 2019.” [emphasis the Globe]

The PPIC also reports that this crime data “does not allow for detailed disaggregation of crimes, including violent crimes involving guns, shoplifting, or theft of car accessories such as catalytic converters, all which were significantly higher in 2023 than before the pandemic.”

“Property crime includes burglary, motor vehicle theft, and larceny; violent crime includes homicide, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault.”

So it’s notable that “this crime data does not allow for detailed disaggregation of crimes, including violent crimes involving guns, shoplifting, or theft of car accessories.” Data disaggregation breaks down aggregate data into smaller groups to extract more specifics, and reveals hidden patterns not visible in aggregated data.

This is cherry pickling data at worst, or relying on incomplete data at best.

“As the state continues to invest in the safety and security of California communities, new data suggests violent and property crime trended down in 2024 statewide,” Newsom says. “According to an analysis of Real Time Crime Index data by the Public Policy Institute of California, violent crime dropped by 4.6% and property crime dropped by 8.5% in 2024, compared to 2023.”

How is the state “investing in safety and security of California communities?” you ask, when Gov. Newsom won’t properly fund voter-approved Proposition 36?

“Note that this is ‘preliminary data’ – crime data that doesn’t include some of the biggest cities. That’s the first issue,” Yolo County District Attorney Jeff Reisig told the Globe.

Reisig continues: “Next…’Violent crime dropped by 4.6% in 2024, compared to 2023, in the RTCI jurisdictions. However, it is still 5.9% higher than in 2019. Aggravated assaults and robberies (theft with the use or threat of force) had been growing since 2021, but in 2024 they decreased by 3.9% and 5.2% respectively. Homicides have continued to decline after a notable pandemic surge, but in 2024 they still remained above pre-pandemic levels by 5.9%. Aggravated assaults are still notably higher; rape is down by 22.6% and robbery by 12.5%.”

“Obviously everyone wants to see crime trending down across California,” DA Reisig said. “Unfortunately, even this preliminary data highlights that violent crime is still higher than before 2019 in major categories.”

“I always find it funny that some people refuse to acknowledge that our state is not as safe today as it was just five years ago. Why should we accept that as normal?”

Notably, Gov. Newsom claims that California’s decreases in violent and property crimes in 2024 were very similar to those of the more than 300 RTCI Real Time Crime Index law enforcement agencies in other states: property crime dropped by 8.5% in California and 8.4% elsewhere; violent crime by 4.6% and 4.4%, respectively.”

Not so fast, Governor Newsom. Claiming that violent crime is down by 4.6% is not the complete story – violent crime is still 5.9% higher than in 2019. And aggravated assaults are still notably higher, often hand-in-hand with violent crime – still 5.9% higher than in 2019.

Another very important fact is that Gov. Newsom did not propose any funding in his budget for additional county jail space or drug treatment programs needed to enforce Proposition 36 implementation, despite that nearly 70% of Californians supported it.

Proposition 36 will make crime illegal again in California, and is one of the biggest political revolutions since Proposition 13 – and a repudiation of Gov. Gavin Newsom, who openly campaigned against the anti-crime initiative.

California leads the nation in fentanyl deaths, drug-addicted homeless vagrants living on the streets, and retail theft thanks to Proposition 47 resulting in California’s once tough-on-crime laws systematically undermined and destroyed with these horrific policies.

“On November 5, 2024, California voters overwhelmingly adopted Proposition 36, the Homelessness, Drug Addiction, and Theft Reduction Act, a modest reform to restore consequences for thieves and drug dealers and require treatment for addicts,” Michael Rushford, the Founder, President, and Chief Executive Officer of the Criminal Justice Legal Foundation recently reported at the Globe. “Its adoption was a complete rebuke of Proposition 47, the so-called Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Act adopted in 2014, with major funding from the ACLU and socialist billionaire George Soros. That measure decriminalized theft and drug crimes. It’s important to note that Proposition 47 was supported by then Lt. Governor Gavin Newsom and the Democrat super majority in the state legislature. Ten years later, these same politicians opposed Proposition 36, although millions of democrats voted for it.”

Yolo County DA Reisig explained the details:

“Homelessness has increased 51% in CA since Prop 47 passed and essentially decriminalized hard drugs like fentanyl and meth in 2014. Meanwhile, homelessness decreased 11% in the rest of the country combined. A recent audit found: “California spent $24 billion to tackle homelessness over a five-year period but didn’t consistently track the outcomes or effectiveness of its programs, according to state audit.”

Governor Gavin Newsom and state Democrats are refusing to fund the Homelessness, Drug Addiction, and Theft Reduction Act in California, Prop. 36, which shows you without a doubt that Democrats no longer work for their constituents; Gavin Newsom never has worked for the people.

And where was California’s media during the 10 years of Prop. 47 chaos? The Sanctuary Press was covering for the cavalier Sanctuary State Governor.