How San Francisco lowers the crime rates

San Francisco has boomed in many ways in the past two decades, but while the city has become a hub for technical talents and entrepreneurship, it has also achieved a negative reputation for a high crime rate.

This means that until last year, when the city recorded an astonishing decline in the reported crime, which lasted in 2025.

The San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) reported that the murders in the city decreased by 31.4 percent in 2024, the rapes decreased by 2 percent and robbery decreased by 21.8 compared to the relapse around 2023.

In addition, the attacks were 6.3 percent, burglary and theft by 9.9 and 35 percent and arson in the same period by 20.6 percent.

The beginning of 2025 also seems to be promising in relation to falling crimes. SFPD data show that the murders between January 1 and April 14 decreased by 55.6 percent compared to the same period in 2024.

During this comparison time, the rape of 34.2 percent, robberies by 21.2 percent, attacks by 7.3, burglaries by 42.1 percent, theft theft by 30.4 and arson by 29.7 percent.

The statistics cover a lower period, which means that the percentage difference can appear larger than the numerical difference between crimes.

The district prosecutor of San Francisco (DA) Brooke Jenkins spoke to Newsweek about the methods used by their office and San Francisco law enforcement authorities to reduce crime in the city.

“When I was appointed district prosecutor, we had a complete shift in the way my office did the work and in the partnerships we had,” said Jenkins. “Especially with the police authority in San Francisco, but also with our other state and federal law enforcement agencies. These are partnerships that were very tense, if not existing before I took over, and that was a great priority for me.”

Jenkins explained that the improvement of the partnerships between the office of the DA and the law enforcement authorities made it possible for them to improve the court's accountability because they had seen a pattern of people who were accused of crimes but were not held accountable.

Without “adequate and appropriate consequences”, the city would not deter themselves, said Jenkins. “However, we cannot pursue criminal law if the agencies at the ground level do not do the work and do the arrest,” she said. “We really had to have a strong partnership to motivate them and motivate them to do more. And we could really develop it.”

The cooperation between the offices looks like regular meetings between there and the SFPD are being followed and ensured [that] The people see the work they do and how hard they work. “

Jenkins spoke especially about drug arrest. She told Newsweek That San Francisco is considered a permissible drug culture because there are many people who have been able to openly drugs in the city for many years.

Her office in cooperation with the law enforcement agencies has increasingly increasingly the arrest for drug trafficking, which, according to Jenkins, could be classified as non -violent crimes, but breeds “violence” in the form of wars of lawn, robberies and assault.

Especially in drugs in the city, Jenkins realized that they can not only be treated with carceran means.

“I think one of the biggest topics with which we are confronted in San Francisco is the problem of unknown, the problem of homelessness,” she said. “Many of these people are dependent on drugs, especially at the moment fentanyl.

“And so there is a lot of what we try to do in the participation of the law enforcement authorities in order to transform these people into treatment in order to make them participate in treatment.”

Jenkins explained that her office had the opportunity to send drug detectors to collaborative, uncriminal dishes in order to address their mental health, drug abuse or other struggles in order to bring them to treatment centers.

“We really try to ensure that we deal with the underlying problem with which someone is confronted before entering the criminal justice system and has contact with law enforcement authorities,” said Jenkins.

This is an effort that has not been unnoticed by social justice groups in San Francisco.

Glide, an organization for social justice in the city, which is devoted to combating poverty and systemic injustice, spoke to Newsweek About the new strategy of the city for crime.

“The changing landscape of public security has brought both opportunities and complexity into our work: Less reported crimes can create a safer environment for our customers and employees, but higher arrest rates can increase depending on how they are applied to increase the susceptibility of marginalized population,” said Glide. “We remain obliged to offer services that concentrate on stability, healing, re -entry and strengthening.”

When Glide spoke about collaborative courts and said: “In fact, we have seen more efforts to redirect people with problems with substance consumption into treatment -oriented programs than in criminal systems.

“Programs such as collaboration courts and distraction for the pre -judicial distraction are important steps to recognize addiction as a health problem, not just as a criminal.”

They explained that approaches such as collaborative courts agree with the evidence that the paths for recovery in the form of support and resources to reduce damage as well as access to health care and social services are more effective than detention.

Another method in which the office and the law enforcement authorities of the DA were used to enter into crime is increasing surveillance in the city.

“We were a city that prioritized the privacy before enforcement,” said Jenkins.

Jenkins said that a lot of surveillance technology was created in San Francisco, but it was only used by the city's prosecution until a public ballot adopted in 2024 enabled the police to increase their surveillance methods.

Some of the surveillance tools that the police now use are license scanners to pursue stolen cars, to support the shooting of “restless locations” and drones for the support of the police in persecution of suspects after a scene.

Jenkins said they identify “restless locations” with the help of community feedback, aggregated data from previous arrests and 911 calls.

Glide said that you can see that surveillance instruments can be used as instruments for public security with an appropriate supervision, “we are also aware that increased surveillance technologies can sometimes have unintentional consequences for already marginalized groups, especially people with color, people who have homelessness, and people who live with disorders or mental health problems.

“It is important that every use of surveillance technology with strong transparency, community input and strict protective measures to prevent abuse or over-polarization is equipped.

When it comes to the future of law enforcement agencies in the city, Jenkins said: “We want to be fair. We want to have a proper procedure. We want to lead the people to the sources of the help that they need appropriately. However, we cannot give up, and I think to the extent that we continue to force rules, cities in our country will be better in shape.”