Copyright Newsweek
Despite President Donald Trump portraying San Francisco as a hotbed of crime, violent crime in the city has dropped to the lowest levels in decades. The San Francisco Police Department’s (SFPD) tally shows there have been 22 homicides so far this year, compared to 26 at the same time in 2024. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, those numbers indicate the city is on track to have the lowest number of homicides since 1954. Newsweek has contacted the police department for comment via email. Why It Matters Trump has suggested in recent days that he might send federal troops to San Francisco, calling it a “mess” and a “woke” city. Since his return to office in January, Trump has deployed troops to several Democratic-majority cities. His plans to send troops to Chicago and Portland have been thwarted by legal challenges, but Trump has suggested he could use the Insurrection Act. What To Know San Francisco saw 11 homicides in the first six months of the year. For a city of 827,000 people, 11 homicides “constitute an incredibly low murder rate of 1.33 per 100,000 people,” Jeffrey Snipes, a professor of criminal justice studies at San Francisco State University, told Newsweek. “For comparison, a similarly sized (713,000) far more conservative city, Oklahoma City, experienced 32 homicides in the same time period, which is a rate of 4.49 per 100,000, close to the national average,” he said, pointing to figures from the Major Cities Chiefs Association. The SFPD data also shows that other violent crime is down this year. Rape is down 16.4 percent compared to the same time in 2024, while assault is down 22.8 percent. Burglaries are down 28.6 percent and motor vehicle theft is down 45.4 percent. The data also shows that larceny theft (the unlawful taking of another person's personal property) is down by 23.3 percent. But while citywide incidents of larceny theft have fallen to 13,234, from 17,234 at the same time last year, such incidents have surged in one distinct region, the Southern District. Larceny theft in the SFPD’s Southern District has gone up by 67.4 percent compared to last year, climbing from 1,330 incidents to 2,226. Those thefts increased the most at shopping malls and grocery stores in neighbourhoods in the district, The San Francisco Standard reported. Snipes told Newsweek that the spike in larceny theft in the Southern District “isn’t all that uncommon [and] most of this is due to retail theft—either organized or not—which follows patterns based on a number of factors. One is a simple whack-a-mole game. When police crack down on retail theft in one hot spot, there is often displacement to other areas with prized victims (such as Target), motivated offenders (especially organized retail thieves), and lack of guardianship.” What People Are Saying Patrick Sharkey, a professor of sociology and public affairs at Princeton University and author of Uneasy Peace: The Great Crime Decline, the Renewal of City Life, and the Next War on Violence, told Newsweek: “Violence in the vast majority of US cities continues to fall in a historic way. Last year, 2024, saw the largest single-year drop in homicide in modern history, and violence has kept falling so far this year. The cities that have been targeted by President Trump, including Los Angeles, Washington DC, Portland, and Chicago, have all experienced major declines in violence this year. Chicago is on pace for the lowest number of murders in more than 30 years.” Sharkey said that San Francisco “is unique in the sense that it did not experience a major increase in violence during the pandemic, but even there the level of violence this year is lower than last. The single best measure of crime that we measure well, the homicide rate, shows that most American cities are as safe as they have been in a long time." Jeffrey Snipes, a professor of criminal justice studies at San Francisco State University, told Newsweek: “Violent crimes such as homicide (and aggravated assault, robberies, rapes), and serious property crimes such as burglaries—which can turn into violent crimes if a resident is inside the property—are the yardstick for public safety, and San Francisco, is performing quite well here.” President Donald Trump told Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo on Sunday Morning Futures: “We're going to go to San Francisco. The difference is, I think they want us in San Francisco. San Francisco was truly one of the great cities of the world. And then, 15 years ago, it went wrong. It went woke.” San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie said in a statement released on Monday: “As your mayor, my top priority every single day is keeping San Francisco safe. With the support of local law enforcement, community leaders, and the appropriate federal law enforcement partners, we're achieving that goal without compromising our values or our laws. As a result, violent crime has fallen to levels not seen since the 1950s, tent encampments are at record lows, and for the first time in years, San Franciscans believe our city is moving in the right direction. “There is no question we have more work to do. I ran for mayor because I see the impact of fentanyl use on our streets—when I drop my son off at school, when I talk to our business and community leaders, when I walk through the city in between meetings. My administration is working every day to make our city better." Lurie added: “I am deeply grateful to the members of our military for their service to our country, but the National Guard does not have the authority to arrest drug dealers—and sending them to San Francisco will do nothing to get fentanyl off the streets or make our city safer." What’s Next It remains to be seen whether Trump deploys federal troops to the city, as he is likely to face several legal and political challenges over the following months.
