By Bo Tefu | California Black Media
Report: California Crime Rate Hits 30-Year Low — But Shoplifting Increased
California saw a drop in most types of crime last year, including homicide, car break-ins, and auto theft, according to new data from the California Department of Justice.
But while overall crime is down, shoplifting is on the rise and remains a concern for businesses and law enforcement across the state.
Violent crime decreased by 5.5% and property crime dropped by 10% in 2024. The state’s property crime rate is now the lowest it has been in nearly 40 years. Notably, car theft fell by 16.8% in its first decline since 2019, but it remains nearly 20% higher than pre-pandemic levels.
All categories of violent crime, including homicide, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault, showed improvement. Still, violent crime overall is nearly 10% higher than in 2019, mostly due to continued elevated levels of aggravated assault.
Despite the positive trends, shoplifting rose by nearly 14% last year and is nearly 48% higher than before the pandemic. When combined with commercial burglary data, overall retail theft rose by 3% in 2024 and is nearly 23% higher than 2019 levels.
Experts note that some of the rise in reported shoplifting could reflect changes in how incidents are tracked. After Proposition 47 reduced penalties for some theft offenses, some retailers reportedly stopped reporting minor incidents. However, increased media attention and recent legislative efforts – including the approval of Prop 36 last year — may be prompting more consistent reporting.
Theft of car parts, including catalytic converters, has also declined, reversing a pandemic-era spike. Car break-ins, too, have dropped by nearly half compared to 2019.
Study: Black Californians Exposed to Dangerous Toxins for More Than 40 Years
A new study reports that Black, Latino, and other communities of color in California have experienced worsening disparities in exposure to harmful short-term nitrogen dioxide (NO2) pollution over the last four decades, even as overall pollution levels declined.
Researchers from Yale University and partner institutions used a deep learning framework to analyze daily NO2 concentrations across California from 1980 to 2022. The study, published in the Journal of Hazardous Materials this month, found that while NO2 exposure dropped statewide, relative disparities between racial and ethnic groups grew over time.
In 2020, Latino residents in California experienced nearly three times as many days with NO2 concentrations exceeding 50 micrograms per cubic meter compared to non-Hispanic White residents.
In 1980, the gap was just 32%.
Black Californians and other non-White groups, including Asian, Pacific Islander, American Indian, and Alaska Native populations, were also disproportionately exposed to high levels of NO2, a pollutant linked to respiratory illness, heart disease, and early death.
“Communities of color have long faced unequal environmental burdens,” said lead author Riyang Liu. “Our data show these disparities haven’t gone away — they’ve actually become more severe relative to the White population.”
The researchers overcame gaps in historical monitoring data by combining chemical transport models, land use changes, and deep learning techniques to estimate daily NO2 exposure at a neighborhood level. This allowed for the first detailed, statewide analysis of racial and ethnic disparities in short-term NO2 pollution over a 42-year span.
NO2 is mainly produced by traffic, power plants, and industrial sources. It often builds up in populated urban areas with limited green space and heavy road traffic – communities that are more likely to be home to low-income and minority populations.
The findings add urgency to calls for stronger environmental justice policies in California and nationwide.
“Reducing overall pollution is not enough,” Liu said. “We need policies that directly address unequal exposure in Black, Latino, and Indigenous communities.”
The study was funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health.
The study highlights growing pollution disparities affecting Black, Latino, and other communities of color in California.
