SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 8 (Xinhua) -- Reported crime in U.S. San Francisco fell to a two-decade low in 2024, according to police data, dropping further than declines nationwide.
Both reported violent crimes and property crimes in the city last year were at their lowest levels since 2001, according to a press release issued by Mayor London Breed's office and verified by a Chronicle analysis of data from the San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) and the California Department of Justice.
Breed's office and SFPD pointed to a slew of efforts including new technology, better coordination between law enforcement agencies and prosecutors and strategic interventions as reasons for the drop.
Between 2023 and 2024, reported violent crimes fell by 14 percent, reversing an increasing trend over the last three years, according to police data. Reported property crimes fell with a 31 percent decline, accelerating a downward trend that began last year.
Murders fell to their lowest point in more than 60 years. There were 35 homicides in San Francisco last year, the fewest since 1961, which saw 37 killings, according to police data.
Nationwide, declines in crime were much more modest, with violent crime down an estimated 2.4 percent and property crime down just 0.1 percent, according to national crime sampling website the Real Time Crime Index.
Despite the declines, 64 percent of Americans believed last year that crime was worse than the year before, according to a recent Gallup poll. And in San Francisco, public safety was a top concern for voters in the November mayoral election.
As Daniel Lurie is sworn in as the city's new mayor on Wednesday, the outgoing mayor London Breed argued the 2024 crime declines as proof that giving police "tools and support" can lead to "incredible results," according to a report by the San Francisco Chronicle.
