Crime in California refers to

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

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 sover ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

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 populat ...

, 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 primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

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 omnipresen ...

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 or ...

. 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 ...

, 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 Superior courts in California are the state trial courts with general jurisdiction to hear and decide any civil or criminal action which is not specially designated to be heard in some other court or before a governmental agency. As mandated by t ...

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 resu ...

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 offen ...

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 Un ...

'', 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 t ...

(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 fr ...

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 gangs, 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 shar ...

, 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 a ...

, and Camorra. 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 compens ...

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 extrac ...

. 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 extremism, Islamic extremist organization composed of Salafist jihadists. Its members are mostly composed of Arab, Arabs, but also include other peoples. Al-Qaeda has mounted attacks on civilian and military ta ...

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-Qassam Bri ...

, Mujahedin-e-Khalq (MEK), and

Jamaat ul-Fuqra Jamaat ul-Fuqraa (alternatively Jamaat al-Fuqraa; ar, جماعة الفقراء, "Community of the Impoverished") is an Islamic terrorist organization of mostly African-American Muslims based in Pakistan and the United States. Some of the approx ...

(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) **

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 ...

* 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 The Hillside Strangler, later the Hillside Stranglers, is the media epithet for one, later discovered to be two, American serial killers who terrorized Los Angeles, California, between October 1977 and February 1978, with the nicknames originating ...

* 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 peop ...

* 1986 San Francisco fireworks disaster * 1987: Hijacking of

Pacific Southwest Airlines Flight 1771 Pacific Southwest Airlines Flight 1771 was a scheduled flight along the West Coast of the United States, from Los Angeles, California, to San Francisco. On December 7, 1987, the British Aerospace 146-200A, registration N350PS, crashed in San Lu ...

* 1988:

Dan Montecalvo case Daniel John Montecalvo (December 27, 1941 – September 25, 2013) was an American man who was convicted of murdering his wife in March 1988 in Burbank, California despite a long-standing claim of innocence. Conviction On the evening of March 31, 1 ...

* 1989: Cleveland Elementary School shooting (Stockton) * 1991: Killing of Latasha Harlins * 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 S ...

** Lindhurst High School shooting * 1993: 101 California Street shooting * 1994:

O. J. Simpson murder case ''The People of the State of California v. Orenthal James Simpson'' was a criminal trial in Los Angeles County Superior Court starting in 1994, in which O. J. Simpson, a former National Football League (NFL) player, broadcaster and actor, was ...

* 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 sensati ...

San Diego State University shooting The San Diego State University shooting was a school shooting that occurred at the San Diego State University (SDSU) engineering building on August 15, 1996, in San Diego, California. Three professors were killed by master's degree student Frede ...

* 1997:

North Hollywood shootout The North Hollywood shootout was a confrontation between two heavily armed and armored bank robbers, Larry Phillips Jr. and Emil Mătăsăreanu, and members of the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) in the North Hollywood district of Los Ange ...

* 1997–98:

Rampart scandal The Rampart scandal involved widespread police corruption in the Community Resources Against Street Hoodlums (CRASH) anti-gang unit of the Los Angeles Police Department's Rampart Division in the late 1990s. More than 70 police officers either as ...

* 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 bulle ...

* 2001: ** 2001 Isla Vista killings ** 2001 Nevada County shootings **

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 On July 4, 2002, a lone gunman opened fire at the ticket counter of El Al, Israel's national airline, at Los Angeles International Airport in Los Angeles, California, United States. In the terrorist attack, two people were killed, and four othe ...

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 * 2009: ** 2009 shootings of Oakland police officers **

Shooting of Oscar Grant Oscar Grant III was a 22-year-old African-American man who was killed in the early morning hours of New Year's Day 2009 by BART Police Officer Johannes Mehserle in Oakland, California. Responding to reports of a fight on a crowded Bay Area Rapid ...

* 2010: Death of Lydia Schatz * 2011 ** 2011 Seal Beach shooting **

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 * 2013: ** 2013 Los Angeles International Airport shooting ** 2013 shooting of Santa Cruz police officers **

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

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 County ...

* 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 * 2015: ** 2015 San Bernardino attack ** Shooting of Kate Steinle * 2016: ** 2016 Sacramento riot ** Orange County Men's Central Jail escape * 2017: **

North Park Elementary School shooting On April 10, 2017, a shooting occurred inside a special education classroom at North Park Elementary School in San Bernardino, California. The shooting was an apparent murder–suicide and an act of domestic violence. Three people—the gunman; ...

Rancho Tehama shootings On November 1314, 2017, a series of shootings occurred in 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 police officer rammed and sto ...

* 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 no ...

Poway synagogue shooting The Poway synagogue shooting occurred on April 27, 2019, at Chabad of Poway synagogue in Poway, California, United States, a city approximately north of San Diego, on the last day of the Jewish Passover holiday, which fell on a Shabbat. Armed ...

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