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Report

Are Younger Generations Committing Less Crime?

By Magnus Lofstrom, Brandon Martin, Deepak Premkumar

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

Retail Theft and Robbery Rates Have Risen across California

By Magnus Lofstrom, Brandon Martin

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

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.

Report

Pandemic Policymaking and Changed Outcomes in Criminal Courts

By Heather Harris

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

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.

Report

Assessing the Impact of COVID-19 on Arrests in California

By Deepak Premkumar, Thomas Sloan, Magnus Lofstrom, Joseph Hayes

At the onset of COVID-19, California’s criminal justice system was affected by shelter-in-place orders and other public health measures, along with law enforcement directives intended to minimize exposure to the virus. We found that pandemic arrest trends mirror mobility patterns, particularly early on. But other factors, such as a shift in policing strategies, also played a role.

Policy Brief

Policy Brief: Assessing the Impact of COVID-19 on Arrests in California

By Deepak Premkumar, Thomas Sloan, Magnus Lofstrom, Joseph Hayes

California’s criminal justice system was affected by shelter-in-place orders and other public health measures during the COVID-19 pandemic, along with law enforcement directives intended to minimize exposure to the virus. We found that pandemic arrest trends mirror mobility patterns, particularly early on. But other factors also played a role.

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