SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Sacramento police say homicides are down 30% last year from 2022, going from 54 homicides in 2022 to just 38 last year.
Police officials say the decrease in homicides was sparked by a new partnership with the U.S. Department of Justice and a new violent crime reduction strategy both starting in 2022.
"In January 2023 through September 2023, our robberies are down 6.1%, our aggravated assault cases are down 21.1%, our rape cases are down 40.1% and our homicide total is down 40% compared to the same timeframe as last year," a Sacramento Police Department spokesperson said. "This reduction in crime is in part due to reallocation of resources within the Police Department, focusing on intelligence led policing strategies., and collaborations with law enforcement partners and the community."
Community organizer and activist Berry Accius told ABC10 it's nice to see the homicide rate decreasing, but violent crime won't go down consistently until illegal guns are off the street and out of the hands of youth.
"Young people are getting caught with guns and being released with a snap of the finger, and often there's no safety plan to change people," he said. "The more and more young people that have access to guns, illegal guns, we'll see the homicide rates going up again."
Violence prevention efforts city-wide have ramped up without a doubt, Accius said, but the goal is to get cut off access to illegal guns.
"We're going to celebrate the (dropping) numbers because it's important to focus on homicide," he said. "But we've got to get the guns off the street because as youth get older and older, they learn how to shoot targets."
