BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — The City of Bakersfield presented its 2025 homicide numbers on Friday.

While the numbers went up in 2025, the city was awarded a $4.9 million grant to keep up its efforts to get homicides down to zero.

The city’s data shows that gang homicides are down, but domestic violence homicides are up.

“We wanna see less shootings and less homicides. We’ve actually been able to do that and that’s wonderful, but we also want to see the individual outcomes,” said Christian Clegg, Bakersfield City Manager. “We want to see their own outcomes in life be better.”

Since 2021, the number of homicides have been decreasing according to city data, however in 2025, it took about a 27% jump from 2024.

In total, 33 city homicides were reported in 2025, compared to 26 homicides in 2024.

However gang homicides dropped, and City Manager Christian Clegg said they hit a historic low.

Domestic violence involved homicides rose from 2025. Clegg said, the city programs used to fight gang homicides could be used for domestic violence.

However there is no specific plan until city analysts dive more into the data.

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“We think that we can apply some of the same principles of the same programs to domestic violence,” said Clegg.

This new grant, the largest given to Bakersfield from the state, strictly for violence prevention, is set to fund the city’s targeted intervention. Finding high risk individuals of committing homicide, mapping their cases, and being hands-on with those people everyday.

“One of the things that we’ve learned overtime is that if you wait even a few days, or a week things have potentially already spun out of control,” Clegg said.

To be hands on, the city is hiring two or three crisis intervention workers using the grant money.

“If there’s a crime scene, and we’ve been notified by family members that are there. The intent is to not be law enforcement, the intent is to go and support those family members,” said Clegg.

Clegg says this strategy won’t take long to implement, but is the foundation for longstanding sustainability in preventing the killing of another in Kern County.

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