Report Crime after Proposition 47 and the Pandemic By Magnus Lofstrom, Brandon Martin Sep 11, 2024 After some drug and property felonies were reclassified as misdemeanors under Proposition 47, incarceration fell—as did arrests for these crimes. But Prop 47 may not be the most important change to California criminal justice in recent years; pandemic interventions also had lasting effects. A new report examines the impact of both on incarceration, enforcement, and crime.
blog post Hate Crime Trends in California By Andrew Skelton, Joseph Hayes, Magnus Lofstrom May 28, 2024 Hate crimes in our state have been on the rise for almost a decade, and they spiked between 2020 and 2022—the last year for which data are currently available. In an effort to address this concerning trend, California is investing in improved hate crime reporting as well as support for affected communities.
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.
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.
Policy Brief Policy Brief: Are Younger Generations Committing Less Crime? By Magnus Lofstrom, Brandon Martin, Deepak Premkumar, Vicki Hsieh Sep 27, 2023 Historically, crime rates peak for those in their late teens and early 20s, but recent trends raise questions about whether this pattern is shifting.
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.
blog post A Large Proportion of Crime Goes Unsolved in California By Magnus Lofstrom May 11, 2023 California’s clearance rates—the shares of reported crimes for which police make an arrest and refer the arrestee to prosecution—are better than those nationwide. Still, statewide less than half of violent crimes and only one in ten property crimes are cleared.
blog post Californians Fear Being a Victim of Crime, and Some Have Been Victims of Racial Profiling By Deja Thomas Mar 14, 2023 A recent PPIC Statewide Survey finds that nearly two in three Californians worry that they or a family member will be a victim of crime. Meanwhile, one in three say they or someone they know have been victims of racial profiling, with Black Californians more likely than other groups to say this.