The FBI Preliminary Semiannual Uniform Crime Report for 2017, which tracks crimes committed during the first six months of the past year in U. S. cities with populations over 100,000, indicates that last year violent crime increased again in most of California’s largest cities.
Data analysis by the Criminal Justice Legal Foundation found that, of the 73 California cities listed in the report, 56% had an increase in violent crime last year.
Cities with the largest violent crime increases included Glendale (35%), Victorville (30%), Pomona (26%), Berkeley (22%), Garden Grove (22%), and Huntington Beach (20%).
Twenty-five cities suffered increases in homicides, including Los Angeles (+2.2%), San Francisco (+36%), Oakland (+17.8%), Fresno (+83.3%), and Sacramento (+61.5%).
San Francisco topped large cities on property crime with a 21% increase.
“While the numbers for the entire year will not be available until the fall, this preliminary report suggests that 2017 was the third year in a row in which California suffered significant increases in violent crime,” said CJLF President Michael Rushford. “Over the past six years, as the state adopted policies that released thousands of known criminals into communities and drastically reduced the consequences for future crimes, the politicians in Sacramento told us crime would not increase. Shame on those who believed them,” he added.
The FBI Preliminary Semiannual Uniform Crime Report for 2017 is available at: https://ucr.fbi.gov/crime-in-the-u.s/2017/preliminary-report/home
CJLF President Michael Rushford is available for comment at (916) 446-0345.