blog post Falling Jail Populations Have Eased Overcrowding in Most County Jails By Brandon Martin, Magnus Lofstrom Feb 15, 2024 California jails have historically faced capacity issues that required counties to release people early. However, a close look at jail populations in the wake of the pandemic shows that overcrowding is now an issue in just a handful of counties.
blog post Testimony: Retail Theft in California By Magnus Lofstrom Jan 25, 2024 At a hearing of the Little Hoover Commission, PPIC policy director and senior fellow Magnus Lofstrom discussed trends in shoplifting and commercial burglary, including geographic variation across the state.
Fact Sheet Law Enforcement Staffing in California By Brandon Martin, Magnus Lofstrom, Andrew Skelton Jan 8, 2024 Law enforcement is funded largely at the local level, and almost half of California’s law enforcement officers work for municipal police departments. Staffing levels continued to drop in 2022, though losses vary across agencies.
blog post California’s Violent Crime Rate Is Diverging from the National Trend By Magnus Lofstrom Nov 1, 2023 In the decade preceding the COVID-19 pandemic, California's violent crime rate roughly mirrored the nationwide trend. But as of 2022, California's violent crime rate is nearly one-third higher than the US rate, a divergence driven largely by aggravated assaults.
blog post County Jails House Fewer Inmates, but Over Half Face Mental Health Issues By Magnus Lofstrom, Brandon Martin Oct 25, 2023 While the number of people in California's county jails has declined markedly over the last decade, the share of inmates with mental health needs has grown to more than half of the total jail population.
Fact Sheet Crime Trends in California By Magnus Lofstrom, Brandon Martin Oct 17, 2023 Violent crime in California has ticked up in recent years, with a pronounced increase in incidents involving guns since 2019. Property crime has also risen steadily statewide, and rates now stand slightly above pre-pandemic levels in 2019.
blog post Video: Are Younger Generations Committing Less Crime? By Vicki Hsieh Oct 13, 2023 PPIC’s policy director for criminal justice Magnus Lofstrom presents findings from a new report examining whether younger generations of Californians are less criminally active than earlier generations and discusses the broader implications of these trends.
Report Are Younger Generations Committing Less Crime? By Magnus Lofstrom, Brandon Martin, Deepak Premkumar Sep 27, 2023 Among Californians born in 1993 and later, criminal offending has fallen 20 to 25 percent compared to previous generations. This shift in longstanding trends is a driving factor behind the overall decline in crime over the last decades and has several broader implications for the criminal justice system.
blog post Gun Incidents Drive a Climb in Violent Crime Rates By Magnus Lofstrom, Brandon Martin Sep 25, 2023 Violent crime in California has been ticking up since 2019. And while the overall share of violent crimes involving guns dipped in 2022, it remains above pre-pandemic levels.