Continuing a four-year streak in crime reduction, Mayor Todd Gloria and Police Chief Scott Wahl announced today that crime in San Diego was down in 2025, reinforcing the City’s reputation as one of the safest large cities in the United States.

The new data shows overall crime decreased by 6.3% in 2025 compared to 2024, continuing a steady decline that includes a 1.5% reduction in 2024 and a 2.7% decrease in 2023. More than 75% of the crime categories tracked showed decreases during the year. City leaders attribute this achievement to outstanding police work, meaningful community partnerships, and effective use of technology.

The statistics are reported through the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS), a nationwide data collection system maintained by the U.S. Department of Justice. NIBRS crimes include crimes against persons, property, and society. 

Crimes against persons decreased by 3.2%, and crimes against property decreased by 11.8%. The increases noted in the crimes against society category often correlate with additional enforcement efforts rather than an increase in criminal behavior.

Several individual crime indicators showed notable improvements in 2025:

• Murders decreased by 25%. Of the 27 homicide cases reported, San Diego Police Department detectives have arrested or identified a suspect in 26 cases.

• Sexual assaults decreased by 6.9%, continuing a downward trend seen in both 2023 and 2024.

• Non-fatal shootings decreased by 25 cases, representing a 21% drop compared to 2024 and a 63% decrease since 2021, when shootings peaked at 256 incidents.

• The violent crime rate stands at 4.1 per 1,000 residents, one of the lowest among major U.S. cities.

• Motor vehicle theft declined by 22% following decreases in 2023 and 2024, a statistic supported by Smart Streetlight cameras and automated license plate reader technology and on trend with other U.S. cities. The closest year in which San Diego has experienced this few auto theft cases was 1972.  

• Hate crime reports decreased from 60 in 2024 to 41 in 2025, a 32% reduction. Bias against sexual orientation accounted for 32%, racial bias accounted for 20% and bias against a religion accounted for 49% of hate crimes in 2025.

• Crimes committed by gang members decreased 13%; however, violent gang activity has increased, and the number of arrests of documented gang members increased by 20%.

The full crime statistics are available in the 2025 Annual Crime Statistics Report and will be presented to the City Council next week.