SAN DIEGO, Calif. (FOX 5/KUSI) — The San Diego Police Department announced that overall crime dropped in the city of San Diego for the fourth consecutive year.

In 2025, about four out of every 1,000 San Diego residents were victims of a violent crime, according to SDPD — one of the lowest rates among major U.S. cities.

With overall crime continuing to decline, SDPD said it will continue working with community outreach programs to help keep crime down.

“We all share the common belief that we are better. We are stronger, and we are safer when we work together,” SDPD Police Chief Scott Wahl said.

Wahl said overall crime in the city fell by 6.3% in 2025.

“That means we retain our status as one of America’s safest big cities,” Mayor Todd Gloria said.

Overall, crimes against people decreased by 3.2%, with sexual assaults and hate crimes notably dropping, and non-fatal shootings declined by 21% in 2025, making a 63% drop compared to 2021, when shootings peaked at 256 offenses.

“When we say crime is down, we’re not just talking about statistics. We’re talking about fewer families who are harmed, fewer businesses that are victimized, fewer people [who] experience the worst day of their life,” Gloria said.

The city credits the improvement to police work, technology, and community groups like No Shots Fired, an organization working to prevent gang violence.

“Whatever gang is involved, we reach out to those ogs and ask them to help get the young men that’s involved in the violence to fall back,” community activist Cornelius Bowser said.

Murder cases plummeted to their lowest since the late 1960s, and of the 27 murder cases in 2025, SDPD’s homicide unit solved 26 of them.

Five of those murder cases were gang-related.

“Get them to change their thinking, to change their emotions, to change their behavior, to change the outcome, and that has been highly effective. That is evidence-based,” Bowser said.

Crimes against property also fell by 11.6%, with auto thefts at their lowest since the 1970s.

“It is not permission to relax,” Gloria said. “My friends, we have to treat this as proof that the work we’re doing in our communities to keep us safe is moving the needle. As the chief said, we must keep it going.”

Meanwhile, crimes against society like gambling, pornography and animal cruelty increased, which SDPD identifies as additional enforcement efforts rather than more criminal behavior.

“Now we need to keep it going, and our goal is five straight years moving forward,” Wahl said.

SDPD will report these statistics to the city council next week.

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