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 Retail Theft and Robbery Rates Have Risen across California By Magnus Lofstrom, Brandon Martin Sep 7, 2023 California has seen an overall increase in retail theft and robbery rates in recent years. Our analysis finds especially notable increases in the Bay Area and the Central Valley, with certain commercial crimes also increasing substantially in parts of southern California.
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 Video: Pandemic Policymaking and Changed Outcomes in Criminal Courts By Stephanie Barton Apr 28, 2023 PPIC researcher Heather Harris discusses a new report on the effects of policies put in place by California courts to address pandemic conditions, with a focus on remote hearings.
event Pandemic Policymaking and Changed Outcomes in Criminal Courts Apr 18, 2023 California’s criminal courts quickly adopted policies to address COVID-19; but uneven adoption around the state affected who might face those policies. On April 18, PPIC researcher Heather Harris will present findings from a report examining how policies such as remote hearings contributed to differences in criminal convictions and sentencing, and discuss how these outcomes may influence whether such hearings will continue.
Report Pandemic Policymaking and Changed Outcomes in Criminal Courts By Heather Harris Apr 12, 2023 California’s criminal courts quickly adopted policies to address COVID-19. But uneven adoption around the state affected who might face those policies—as well as whether people were convicted and the sentences handed out. In particular, remote hearings contributed to racial differences in outcomes, which may influence whether such hearings continue.
Policy Brief Policy Brief: Pandemic Policymaking and Changed Outcomes in Criminal Courts By Heather Harris, Stephanie Barton Apr 12, 2023 Remote hearings are the major policy to endure from pandemic interventions introduced by California criminal courts. When remote hearings were in place, misdemeanor convictions fell—and courts tended to hand out probation or fines for these crimes, especially among white, Latino, and Black defendants.
blog post California’s Leading Role in Providing Criminal Defense to the Poor By Heather Harris Mar 16, 2023 This week is the 60th anniversary of a landmark US Supreme Court decision that established a constitutional right to legal representation for defendants in state criminal courts, regardless of their ability to pay. We look at California’s approach to indigent defense and how it has changed over time.
