San Francisco homicide rates hit 60-year low, mayor says

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- City leaders announced new crime data Tuesday, showing San Francisco has the lowest homicide rate since the 1960s.

Year to date, San Francisco's homicides are down 34% from 2023 - the lowest rate the city has seen since the early 1960s, Mayor London Breed said. There have been 33 homicides so far this year.

"It's because we've worked together. It is because we focused on prevention. And when we provide solutions and when we work together and when we give a damn, we see progress. That is what today means seeing violent crime decline in the city to the lowest number in over a decade," Breed said at a Tuesday press conference.

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Breed and SFPD Chief Bill Scott credited the success to a multitude of factors such as working on prevention through community-police relationship initiatives, as well as implementing new technology like drones, public safety cameras and automated license plate readers to help the department identify and arrest criminals.

"This wasn't an accident. This was very strategic," Scott said. "You can't argue with the outcomes."

SFPD incident report data shows larceny theft from vehicle incidents, which are unofficial reports by both police officers and members of the public, are lower now than this time last year.

Even with the numbers trending down, the city struggles with its image nationwide. Viral videos of retail theft during the pandemic, and even the recent non-fatal shooting of 49ers player Ricky Pearsall are examples that have led critics, like President-elect Donald Trump to proclaim San Francisco as "ruined."

Both Scott and Breed, who was voted out in November, acknowledged the city needs to do public relations damage control.

"We want to rewrite our narrative in this city because, we've taken knocks - sometimes justified, sometimes not. We got to get the truth out there and show people what we're doing, show people the results. And that's going to help with the feeling of safety," Scott said.

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The mayor said there is "more work to do" in making sure San Franciscans and others feel safe and comfortable in the city again but stressed the importance of the new data in helping shift perceptions.

"You look at other cities around this country they pale in comparison. I think what we want to be able to do is send a strong message. And I think that the data is helping us to send that message," she said.

How San Francisco compares to other cities on crime

According to 2023 FBI crime data released in September, San Francisco has a high rate of property crime per 100,000 people when looking at select cities across the country.

However, homicide rates are low in San Francisco compared to many other cities, including Oakland.

Look at our ABC7 Safety Tracker for more crime stats for San Francisco, Oakland and San Jose.