BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) \u2014 The Bakersfield Police Department shared statistics on last year\u2019s citywide reported crime, response times and traffic conditions during the regular City Council meeting Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Overall, BPD recorded fewer reports of crimes and decreased response times, according to Bakersfield Chief of Police Greg Terry. The city has also seen success last year with its differential response for calls that require mental health services.<\/p>\n
Although the crimes reported citywide went down by 7.5% from 2024, the number of homicides reports in Bakersfield went up by 26.9% from 2024 to 2025, according to Terry. There were 33 homicides in 2025, seven more than in 2024.<\/p>\n
Watch \u2018After Sunrise\u2019 on KGET+; Click to learn how to get KGET+ on your smart TV devices <\/a><\/p>\n Terry said this is higher than BPD\u2019s typical homicide numbers per year in the past 20 years, except for the record number of 60 homicides in 2021.<\/p>\n Domestic violence also increased in the context of homicides in 2025, making up about 20% to 25% of homicides last year, according to Terry.<\/p>\n But there has been a decline in gang-related homicides in Bakersfield, Terry said. In the past, about 40% to 45% of homicides each year were gang-related \u2014 also called \u201cgenerational violence\u201d \u2014 but in 2025, there were three gang-related homicides.<\/p>\n On the other hand, all other reported violent crimes saw reductions \u2014 reports of rape went down by 40.6%, robbery by 7.8% and aggravated assault by 7.4%.<\/p>\n While a decrease in reported crimes doesn\u2019t always suggest there are less crimes occurring, Terry said the number of crimes fell much further than the level of police activity in 2025, which indicates a positive change.<\/p>\n Terry said there has been a significant decline in gun violence, with a 45% reduction in firearm-involved homicides and 68% reduction in shootings overall.<\/p>\n City officials said the CalVIP grant funding<\/a> for the city\u2019s gun violence reduction strategy launched in 2022 helped significantly reduce the number of shootings.<\/p>\n BPD also saw positive results in working with mental health clinicians to respond to calls.<\/p>\n According to Terry, there are three clinicians working in the communications center across five patrol shifts, with 2025 being the first year with full staffing. The number of calls handled jumped from 1,835 in 2023 to 4,503 last year, while officers responded to 259 calls in 2023 and 1,145 last year.<\/p>\n The clinicians were able to resolve more than 81% of all calls routed to them without police response, Terry said.<\/p>\n The median response times for calls overall have reduced to varying degrees depending on the priority level, with top priority calls\u2019 response time remaining almost the same since 2024 with a second of increase.<\/p>\n The 911 calls received by BPD also went down by 16% compared to 2024 while dispatched incidents decreased by 7%.<\/p>\n