SACRAMENTO, CA— A newly issued report from the California Department of Justice trumpeted a massive decrease in violent crime statewide and was hailed as “transparency,” and a “critical part” of regulating state responses and providing lawmakers and law enforcement with “the tools they need to make informed decisions,” by California Attorney General Roy Bonta.
However, according to the San Francisco Chronicle’s Danielle Echeverria, there is a major problem: the data that undergirds the report is “substantially flawed,” and the DOJ is fully aware of this fact thanks to a 2024 Chronicle report.
“Transparency is key for understanding, preventing, and combating crime in our communities. While crime rates have declined over the past year, public safety in our communities remains priorities one, two, and three. I encourage local partners and law enforcement to review this data and recommit to taking action,” Bonta said in a statement.
“The statistics reported today in the California Department of Justice’s annual crime reports are a critical part of understanding where we are, regulating our response, and ensuring policymakers and law enforcement have the tools they need to make informed decisions that keep millions of Californians safe.”
But as explained by Echeverria, “In last year’s Crime in California report, the Chronicle found that Oakland had logged an improbably high violent crime spike in 2023, fueled by a reported 138% jump in aggravated assaults — a number that did not match Oakland’s own year-end report.”
Following an inquiry from the Chronicle, the Oakland PD identified the issue as being attributed to “human error.”
When alerted to the problem, the CA DOJ spokesman laid it at the feet of the Oakland Police and failed to issue any revisions to the report.
The CA DOJ spokesman told the Chronicle by email, “The onus is on every police department to report accurate data. Our role is to publish a comprehensive report based on what each of the 500+ agencies are responsible for reporting to us. Any discrepancy is the responsibility of the local agency.”
The outlet reported that once again Bonta’s office is knowingly utilizing the false data even advising in the text of the report that analysts “use caution” comparing the 2023 numbers to any other year. Nevertheless, Bonta’s office has touted a purported 6% decrease in violent crime statewide from 2023 to 2024.
The Chronicle revealed that using updated data from the Oakland Police Department, their analysts were able to find a decrease in violent crime of just 2%.
Although a positive development, Echeverria notes, “The error distracts from what are otherwise promising long-term trends in California crime rates. Even after correcting for the flaw, levels of both reported violent and property crime are well below the historic highs of the 1980s and '90s, and continued to trend downwards in 2024.“
However, according to the San Francisco Chronicle’s Danielle Echeverria, there is a major problem: the data that undergirds the report is “substantially flawed,” and the DOJ is fully aware of this fact thanks to a 2024 Chronicle report.
“Transparency is key for understanding, preventing, and combating crime in our communities. While crime rates have declined over the past year, public safety in our communities remains priorities one, two, and three. I encourage local partners and law enforcement to review this data and recommit to taking action,” Bonta said in a statement.
CA DOJ has issued our annual Criminal Justice Statistical Reports.
— Rob Bonta (@AGRobBonta) July 1, 2025
While crime rates have declined in the last year, public safety remains priorities 1, 2, and 3.
The statistics reported today are a critical part of understanding where we are and ensuring policymakers and law…
“The statistics reported today in the California Department of Justice’s annual crime reports are a critical part of understanding where we are, regulating our response, and ensuring policymakers and law enforcement have the tools they need to make informed decisions that keep millions of Californians safe.”
But as explained by Echeverria, “In last year’s Crime in California report, the Chronicle found that Oakland had logged an improbably high violent crime spike in 2023, fueled by a reported 138% jump in aggravated assaults — a number that did not match Oakland’s own year-end report.”
Following an inquiry from the Chronicle, the Oakland PD identified the issue as being attributed to “human error.”
When alerted to the problem, the CA DOJ spokesman laid it at the feet of the Oakland Police and failed to issue any revisions to the report.
The CA DOJ spokesman told the Chronicle by email, “The onus is on every police department to report accurate data. Our role is to publish a comprehensive report based on what each of the 500+ agencies are responsible for reporting to us. Any discrepancy is the responsibility of the local agency.”
The outlet reported that once again Bonta’s office is knowingly utilizing the false data even advising in the text of the report that analysts “use caution” comparing the 2023 numbers to any other year. Nevertheless, Bonta’s office has touted a purported 6% decrease in violent crime statewide from 2023 to 2024.
The Chronicle revealed that using updated data from the Oakland Police Department, their analysts were able to find a decrease in violent crime of just 2%.
Although a positive development, Echeverria notes, “The error distracts from what are otherwise promising long-term trends in California crime rates. Even after correcting for the flaw, levels of both reported violent and property crime are well below the historic highs of the 1980s and '90s, and continued to trend downwards in 2024.“
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Comments
2025-07-07T17:11-0400 | Comment by: Dawn
When criminals are permitted freedom to commit crime without fear of prosecution, since prosecutors in CA refuse to even prosecute most criminals, of course crime will magically appear to drop in the statistics. Do they really think MOST people are so stupid as to believe their nonsense? People who live in these crime-ridden hellholes in places like CA who choose to believe these lies, DESPITE what they're actually seeing in their own communities, truly are idiots.
2025-07-08T17:21-0400 | Comment by: Rick
Kalifornia needs to start losing its federal monies. They want to lie about crime statistics and make obvious crimes non-criminal then, apparently, they don't require federal funds. Same as Newscum shutting off access to water, leaving fire systems in whole communities without water, causing them to burn without any mitigation. No, you cannot get federal emergency funds for the fire YOU caused. As states make their beds, the federal government needs to hold them accountable for their actions in the form of withholding federal funds.
2025-07-13T18:04-0400 | Comment by: Dona
If you read the local paper, the Press Democrat, in Sonoma and Napa counties - crime is escalating. I doubt if it is any better in Oakland or anywhere else in the state. They are just loosing businesses and the middle class workforce that pays taxes is dwindling - so they have to make it 'sound' safe when it is not. I used to think i live in God's country in Santa Rosa.
2025-08-27T16:55-0400 | Comment by: Cliff
California blew through its credibility in government reporting long ago.