Crime in California refers to

crime In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definitions of", in C ...

occurring within the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

State statistics

In 2019, there were 1,096,668 crimes reported in

including 1,679 murders, 14,720 rapes and 915,197 property crimes. In 2019, there were 1,012,441 arrests of adults and 43,181 arrests of juveniles in California. In 2014, 1,697 people were victims of homicides. 30% of homicides were gang-related, 28% were due to an unspecified argument, 9% were domestic, and 7% were robbery related. The rest were unknown. In 2017 the violent crime rate in California rose 1.5% and was 14th highest of the 50 states.

By location

Los Angeles

In 2010,

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

reported 293 homicides. The 2010 number corresponds to a rate of 7.6 per 100,000 population. Murders in Los Angeles have decreased since the peak year of 1993, when the homicide rate was 21.1 (per 100,000 population).

Bakersfield

On 12 September 2018, a shooting rampage was witnessed in

Bakersfield Bakersfield is a city in Kern County, California, United States. It is the county seat and largest city of Kern County. The city covers about near the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley and the Central Valley region. Bakersfield's pop ...

, where a man killed five people and then took his life as well. The mass shooting is considered to be the third deadliest gun violence in the US in 2018.

San Bruno

The mother, biological-father and step-father of a 15-year-old girl were jailed for allegedly mistreating and kidnapping a 17-year-old African American boy found in their daughter's closet. San Bruno Police booked them for hate crime.

Legal procedure

As one of the fifty states of the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

follows

common law In law, common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law created by judges and similar quasi-judicial tribunals by virtue of being stated in written opinions."The common law is not a brooding omniprese ...

criminal procedure Criminal procedure is the adjudication process of the criminal law. While criminal procedure differs dramatically by jurisdiction, the process generally begins with a formal criminal charge with the person on trial either being free on bail o ...

. The principal source of

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...

for California criminal procedure is the

California Penal Code The Penal Code of California forms the basis for the application of most criminal law, criminal procedure, penal institutions, and the execution of sentences, among other things, in the American state of California. It was originally enacted i ...

, Part 2, "Of Criminal Procedure." Every year in California, approximately 150 thousand

violent crimes A violent crime, violent felony, crime of violence or crime of a violent nature is a crime in which an offender or perpetrator uses or threatens to use harmful force upon a victim. This entails both crimes in which the violent act is the objecti ...

and 1 million

property crimes Property crime is a category of crime, usually involving private property, that includes, among other crimes, burglary, larceny, theft, motor vehicle theft, arson, shoplifting, and vandalism. Property crime is a crime to obtain money, property, o ...

are committed. With a population of about 40 million people, approximately 1.2 million arrests are made every year in California. The California superior courts hear about 270,000

felony A felony is traditionally considered a crime of high seriousness, whereas a misdemeanor is regarded as less serious. The term "felony" originated from English common law (from the French medieval word "félonie") to describe an offense that res ...

cases, 900,000

misdemeanor A misdemeanor (American English, spelled misdemeanour elsewhere) is any "lesser" criminal act in some common law legal systems. Misdemeanors are generally punished less severely than more serious felonies, but theoretically more so than adm ...

cases, and 5 million

infraction A summary offence or petty offence is a violation in some common law jurisdictions that can be proceeded against summarily, without the right to a jury trial and/or indictment (required for an indictable offence). Canada In Canada, summary offe ...

cases every year. There are currently 130,000 people in state prisons and 70,000 people in county jails. Of these, there are 746 people who have been sentenced to death.These are the 746 inmates awaiting execution on California's death row
''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the ...

'', Paige St. John & Maloy Moore, August 24, 2017. Retrieved November 24, 2017.

Policing

In 2008, California had 509 state and local law enforcement agencies. Those agencies employed a total of 126,538 staff. Of the total staff, 79,431 were sworn officers (defined as those with general arrest powers).

Police ratio

In 2008, California had 217 police officers per 100,000 residents.

Capital punishment laws

The

death penalty Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that ...

(also known as capital punishment) is applied in California. Governor

Gavin Newsom Gavin Christopher Newsom (born October 10, 1967) is an American politician and businessman who has been the 40th governor of California since 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the 49th lieutenant governor of California f ...

suspended the use of the death penalty in March 2019.

Organized crime

Organized crime in California involves the criminal activities of

organized crime Organized crime (or organised crime) is a category of transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals to engage in illegal activity, most commonly for profit. While organized crime is generally th ...

groups,

street gang A gang is a group or society of associates, friends or members of a family with a defined leadership and internal organization that identifies with or claims control over territory in a community and engages, either individually or collective ...

s, criminal

extremists Extremism is "the quality or state of being extreme" or "the advocacy of extreme measures or views". The term is primarily used in a political or religious sense to refer to an ideology that is considered (by the speaker or by some implied sha ...

, and

terrorists Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...

.Organized Crime in California
California Department of Justice. Sacramento: Criminal Intelligence Bureau, 2005. Traditional organized crime are in the form of

Cosa Nostra The Sicilian Mafia, also simply known as the Mafia and frequently referred to as Cosa nostra (, ; "our thing") by its members, is an Italian Mafia-terrorist-type organized crime syndicate and criminal society originating in the region of Sicily ...

(LCN),

Sicilian Mafia The Sicilian Mafia, also simply known as the Mafia and frequently referred to as Cosa nostra (, ; "our thing") by its members, is an Italian Mafia-terrorist-type organized crime syndicate and criminal society originating in the region of Sicily ...

, and

Camorra The Camorra (; ) is an Italian Mafia-typeMafia and Mafia-type org ...

. Eurasian criminal networks specialize in

white-collar crime The term "white-collar crime" refers to financially motivated, nonviolent or non-directly violent crime committed by individuals, businesses and government professionals. It was first defined by the sociologist Edwin Sutherland in 1939 as "a ...

fraud In law, fraud is intentional deception to secure unfair or unlawful gain, or to deprive a victim of a legal right. Fraud can violate civil law (e.g., a fraud victim may sue the fraud perpetrator to avoid the fraud or recover monetary compen ...

prostitution Prostitution is the business or practice of engaging in Sex work, sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, n ...

and

human trafficking Human trafficking is the trade of humans for the purpose of forced labour, sexual slavery, or commercial sexual exploitation for the trafficker or others. This may encompass providing a spouse in the context of forced marriage, or the extr ...

. Crime cells from Southeast Asia, Latin America, and Eastern Europe impact public safety and the state's economy.

Gangs

Gangs in California are classified into three categories: criminal street gangs,

prison gang A prison gang is an inmate organization that operates within a prison system. It has a corporate entity and exists into perpetuity. Its membership is restrictive, mutually exclusive, and often requires a lifetime commitment. Prison officials and ot ...

s, and outlaw

motorcycle gang An outlaw motorcycle club is a motorcycle subculture generally centered on the use of cruiser motorcycles, particularly Harley-Davidsons and choppers, and a set of ideals that purport to celebrate freedom, nonconformity to mainstream culture ...

s. Gang operations usually include "assault, auto theft, drive-by shooting, illegal drug and narcotic manufacturing, drug and narcotic trafficking, forgery, fraud, home invasion robbery, identity theft, murder, weapons trafficking, witness intimidation, and violence against law enforcement."

Terrorism

Domestic criminal extremists include various racial supremacy groups. International terrorists include

Al-Qaeda Al-Qaeda (; , ) is an Islamic extremist organization composed of Salafist jihadists. Its members are mostly composed of Arabs, but also include other peoples. Al-Qaeda has mounted attacks on civilian and military targets in various countr ...

Hamas Hamas (, ; , ; an acronym of , "Islamic Resistance Movement") is a Palestinian Sunni- Islamic fundamentalist, militant, and nationalist organization. It has a social service wing, Dawah, and a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qas ...

Mujahedin-e-Khalq The People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI), also known as Mojahedin-e-Khalq (MEK) or Mojahedin-e-Khalq Organization (MKO) ( fa, سازمان مجاهدين خلق ايران, sâzmân-e mojâhedīn-e khalq-e īrân), is an Iranian pol ...

(MEK), and Jamaat ul-Fuqra (JUF).

Notable incidents

* 1946:

Battle of Alcatraz The Battle of Alcatraz, which lasted from May 2 to 4, 1946, was the result of an escape attempt at Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary by armed convicts. Two Federal Bureau of Prisons officers—William A. Miller and Harold Stites—were killed (Mille ...

* 1947:

Black Dahlia Elizabeth Short (July 29, 1924 – January 14–15, 1947), known posthumously as the Black Dahlia, was an American woman found murdered in the Leimert Park neighborhood of Los Angeles on January 15, 1947. Her case became highly publicized ow ...

murder * 1965: **

1965 Highway 101 sniper attack Early on the Sunday morning of April 25, 1965, 16-year-old Michael Andrew Clark opened fire on cars traveling along U.S. Highway 101 just south of Orcutt, California from a nearby hilltop. Three people were killed and ten were wounded before Cl ...

** Watts riots * 1968–69:

Zodiac Killer The Zodiac Killer is the pseudonym of an unidentified serial killer who operated in Northern California in the late 1960s. The case has been described as the most famous unsolved murder case in American history. It became a fixture of popular c ...

murders five known victims * 1968:

Assassination of Robert F. Kennedy On June 5, 1968, Robert F. Kennedy was shot by Sirhan Sirhan shortly after midnight at the Ambassador Hotel, Los Angeles. He was pronounced dead at 1:44 a.m. PDT the following day. Kennedy was a senator from New York and a candidate ...

* 1969:

Tate–LaBianca murders The TateLaBianca murders were a series of murders perpetrated by members of the Manson Family during August 810, 1969, in Los Angeles, California, United States, under the direction of Tex Watson and Charles Manson. The perpetrators killed five ...

* 1970:

Newhall incident The Newhall incident, also called the Newhall massacre, was a shootout on April 5–6, 1970, in Valencia, California, between two heavily armed criminals and four officers of the California Highway Patrol (CHP). In less than five minutes, the fo ...

* 1972:

United California Bank burglary The United California Bank burglary took place on 24 March 1972, when the safe deposit vault at United California Bank in Laguna Niguel, California, was broken into and $9 million ($ million today) in cash and valuables were looted by professional ...

* 1974: ** 1974 Los Angeles International Airport bombing ** Assassination attempts of Gerald Ford in Sacramento and in San Francisco * 1976: **

California State University, Fullerton, massacre The California State University, Fullerton, massacre was an incident of mass murder committed by a custodian, Edward Charles Allaway (born 1939), on July 12, 1976, at California State University, Fullerton, in Fullerton, California, United States ...

Cleveland Elementary School shooting (San Diego) The Cleveland Elementary School shooting was a school shooting that took place on January 29, 1979, at Grover Cleveland Elementary School in San Diego, California, United States. The principal and a custodian were killed; eight children and po ...

Gypsy Hill killings The Gypsy Hill killings were a group of five homicides of young women and girls in San Mateo County, California, during early 1976. The killer became known in the media as the "San Mateo Slasher." It was later proven that there were at least two d ...

* 1977:

Kidnapping of Colleen Stan Colleen J. Stan (born December 31, 1956) is an American woman who was kidnapped and held as a sex slave by Cameron and Janice Hooker in their Red Bluff, California home for over seven years, between 1977 and 1984. At Cameron Hooker's trial, Stan ...

* 1977–78: Hillside Strangler * 1978:

Moscone–Milk assassinations On November 27, 1978, San Francisco Mayor George Moscone and San Francisco Supervisor Harvey Milk were shot and killed in San Francisco City Hall by former Supervisor Dan White. On the morning of that day, Moscone intended to announce that the ...

* 1981:

Wonderland murders The Wonderland murders, also known as the Four on the Floor Murders or the Laurel Canyon Murders, are four unsolved murders that occurred in Los Angeles, California, United States, on July 1, 1981. It is assumed that five people were targeted ...

* 1984: **

Murder of Kirsten Costas Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification or valid excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. ("The killing of another person without justification or excuse, especially the c ...

San Ysidro McDonald's massacre The San Ysidro McDonald's massacre was an act of mass murder which occurred at a McDonald's restaurant in the San Ysidro neighborhood of San Diego, California, on July 18, 1984. The perpetrator, 41-year-old James Huberty, fatally shot 21 peopl ...

1986 San Francisco fireworks disaster The 1986 San Francisco fireworks disaster took place on April 5, 1986, when a massive explosion and fire devastated a city block in the Bayview district of San Francisco. At least eight people were killed and another 20 were injured. The explosio ...

* 1987: Hijacking of Pacific Southwest Airlines Flight 1771 * 1988: Dan Montecalvo case * 1989:

Cleveland Elementary School shooting (Stockton) The Cleveland Elementary School shooting (also known as the Stockton schoolyard shooting and the Cleveland School massacre) occurred on January 17, 1989, at Cleveland Elementary School at 20 East Fulton Street in Stockton, California, United St ...

* 1991:

Killing of Latasha Harlins Latasha Harlins (January 1, 1976 – March 16, 1991) was an African-American girl who was fatally shot at age 15 by Soon Ja Du ( ko, 두순자) after Latasha knocked Soon Ja Du to the ground, a 51-year-old Korean-American convenience store owner ...

* 1992: **

1992 Los Angeles riots The 1992 Los Angeles riots, sometimes called the 1992 Los Angeles uprising and the Los Angeles Race Riots, were a series of riots and civil disturbances that occurred in Los Angeles County, California, in April and May 1992. Unrest began in So ...

Lindhurst High School shooting The Lindhurst High School shooting was a school shooting and subsequent siege that occurred on May 1, 1992, at Lindhurst High School in Olivehurst, California, United States. The gunman, 20-year-old Eric Houston, was a former student at Lindhurst ...

* 1993:

101 California Street shooting The 101 California Street Shooting was a mass shooting on July 1, 1993, in San Francisco, California. The killings sparked a number of legal and legislative actions that were precursors to the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act, H ...

* 1994: O. J. Simpson murder case * 1996: **

Han twins murder conspiracy The Han twins murder conspiracy was a case of attempted murder of Sunny Han by her identical twin sister Jeena "Jeen" Han, occurring on November 6, 1996 in Irvine, California. Both are Korean-born American citizens. It quickly became a sensation ...

** San Diego State University shooting * 1997: North Hollywood shootout * 1997–98: Rampart scandal * 1999:

Los Angeles Jewish Community Center shooting On August 10, 1999, at around 10:50 a.m. PT, American white supremacist Buford O. Furrow Jr. walked into the lobby of the North Valley Jewish Community Center in Granada Hills and opened fire with an Uzi sub machine gun, firing 70 bullet ...

* 2001: **

2001 Isla Vista killings On February 23, 2001, a vehicular homicide and assault occurred in the student community of Isla Vista, California, near the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) campus. Four people were killed and a fifth, who suffered critical injurie ...

2001 Nevada County shootings On January 10, 2001, a shooting spree took place in Nevada County, California, when 40-year-old Scott Harlan Thorpe opened fire with a semi-automatic pistol, killing three people and wounding three others in two separate shootings in the Nevada ...

Santana High School shooting On March 5, 2001, a school shooting occurred at Santana High School in Santee, California. The gunman, 15-year-old Charles Andrew Williams, opened fire with an eight-shot .22-caliber revolver, killing two students and wounding 13 others. Willi ...

Stevenson Ranch shootout On August 31, 2001, a shootout occurred in Stevenson Ranch, California, Stevenson Ranch, an unincorporated community in Santa Clarita Valley, California. It resulted in the immediate deaths of James Allen Beck, a convicted felon, and Hagop "Jake" ...

* 2002: ** 2002 Los Angeles International Airport shooting **

Murder of Laci Peterson Laci Denise Peterson (born Rocha; May 4, 1975 — c. December 24, 2002) was an American woman who was the subject of a highly publicized murder case after she disappeared while eight months pregnant with her first child. She was reportedly last s ...

* 2003:

Shooting of Deandre Brunston The shooting of Deandre "Trey" Brunston, a 24-year-old African-American, occurred in Compton, Los Angeles County, California, on August 24, 2003. He was shot 22 times by Los Angeles County Sheriff's deputies, who fired 81 rounds. In 2006, Brunsto ...

* 2006:

Goleta postal facility shootings The Goleta postal facility shootings were a spree killing perpetrated by Jennifer San Marco on January 30, 2006. San Marco, a former United States Postal Service employee, shot and killed six people in Goleta, California, before taking her own ...

* 2009: **

2009 shootings of Oakland police officers Four police officers in Oakland, California, were fatally shot on March 21, 2009, by Lovelle Mixon, a convicted felon wanted on a no-bail warrant for a parole violation. Mixon shot and killed two police officers of the Oakland Police Department ...

** Shooting of Oscar Grant * 2010:

Death of Lydia Schatz Lydia Charity Schatz (March 15, 2002 – February 6, 2010) was a 7-year-old American child of Liberian origins who was killed in 2010 by her adoptive parents in an attempt to discipline her.Lynn Harris: "Godly discipline turned deadly - A controver ...

* 2011 **

2011 Seal Beach shooting On October 12, 2011, a mass shooting occurred at the Salon Meritage hair salon in Seal Beach, California. Eight people inside the salon and one person in the parking lot were shot, and only one victim survived. It remains the deadliest mass kil ...

Southern California Edison shooting On December 16, 2011, a gunman opened fire inside a Southern California Edison office building in Irwindale, California. The gunman, Andre Turner, killed two employees, and wounded two others, before committing suicide. Shooting Andre Turner, 48, ...

* 2011–12 Los Angeles arson attacks *

2012 Anaheim, California police shooting and protests The Anaheim police shootings and protests of July 2012 involve two fatal shootings by police officers in Anaheim, California, and subsequent public protests. On July 21, Manuel Diaz was shot and killed by Anaheim Police officer Nick Bennallack af ...

* 2013: ** 2013 Los Angeles International Airport shooting **

2013 shooting of Santa Cruz police officers On February 26, 2013, Santa Cruz, CA, Santa Cruz Police Department officers Sergeant Loran Baker and Detective Elizabeth Butler were shot and killed during an investigation. After a short interaction regarding an allegation and a negotiation to be ...

Kidnapping of Hannah Anderson On or about the afternoon of August 3, 2013, 16-year-old Hannah Marie Anderson (born July 22, 1997) was abducted after cheerleading practice from Sweetwater High School in National City, California. The suspect was later identified by authoriti ...

Christopher Dorner shootings and manhunt Christopher Jordan Dorner (June 4, 1979 – February 12, 2013) was a former officer of the Los Angeles Police Department who, beginning on February 3, 2013, committed a series of shootings in Orange County, Los Angeles County, Riverside Coun ...

* 2013–14:

Interstate 80 rapist The I-80 Rape Series is a series of rapes that was committed by a serial rapist in Sacramento, California ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , m ...

2014 Isla Vista killings The 2014 Isla Vista killings were a series of misogynistic terror attacks in Isla Vista, California. On the evening of May 23, 22-year-old Elliot Rodger killed six people and injured fourteen others—by gunshot, stabbing and vehicle rammi ...

* 2015: **

2015 San Bernardino attack On December 2, 2015, a terrorist attack, consisting of a mass shooting and an attempted bombing, occurred at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino, California. The perpetrators, Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik, a married couple ...

Shooting of Kate Steinle On July 1, 2015, 32-year-old Kathryn "Kate" Steinle was shot and killed while walking with her father and a friend along Pier 14 in the Embarcadero district of San Francisco. She was hit in the back by a single bullet. The man who fired the gun ...

* 2016: **

2016 Sacramento riot The 2016 Sacramento riot was a civil disorder at a neo-Nazi rally outside the California State Capitol in Sacramento, California on June 26, 2016. Neo-nazi groups including the Traditionalist Workers Party and other white supremacist groups were i ...

** Orange County Men's Central Jail escape * 2017: ** North Park Elementary School shooting **

Rancho Tehama shootings On November 1314, 2017, a series of shootings occurred in Rancho Tehama, California, Rancho Tehama, an unincorporated community in Tehama County, California, U.S. The gunman, 44-year-old Kevin Janson Neal, died by suicide after a Corning, Cali ...

* 2019: **

Gilroy Garlic Festival shooting On July 28, 2019, a mass shooting occurred at the Gilroy Garlic Festival in Gilroy, California. The gunman killed three people and wounded 17 others before killing himself after a shootout with responding police officers. , investigators had n ...

** Poway synagogue shooting **

Saugus High School shooting On November 14, 2019, at Saugus High School in Santa Clarita, California, United States, a school shooting occurred when a student with a pistol, identified as 16-year-old Nathaniel Berhow, shot five schoolmates, killing two, before killing hi ...

*2021: ** 2021 Orange, California office shooting **

2021 San Jose shooting On May 26, 2021, a mass shooting occurred at a Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) rail yard in San Jose, California, United States. A gunman killed nine people and then committed suicide, for a total of ten deaths. The gunman w ...