Crime in California refers to

crime In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a State (polity), state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definiti ...

occurring within the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. The principal source of

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and as the ar ...

for California criminal procedure is the

California Penal Code The Penal Code of California forms the basis for the application of most criminal law, criminal procedure, penal institutions, and the execution of sentences, among other things, in the United States, American state of California. It was origin ...

. California has a lower murder rate than the US average.

State statistics

In 2019, there were 1,096,668 crimes reported in

including 1,679 murders, 14,720 rapes and 915,197 property crimes. In 2019, there were 1,012,441 arrests of adults and 43,181 arrests of juveniles in California. In 2014, 1,697 people were victims of homicides. 30% of homicides were gang-related, 28% were due to an unspecified argument, 9% were domestic, and 7% were robbery related. The rest were unknown. In 2017 the violent crime rate in California rose 1.5% and was 14th highest of the 50 states.

By location

Los Angeles

In 2010,

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

reported 293 homicides. The 2010 number corresponds to a rate of 7.6 per 100,000 population. Murders in Los Angeles have decreased since the peak year of 1993, when the homicide rate was 21.1 (per 100,000 population).

Legal procedure

As one of the fifty states of the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

follows

common law Common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law primarily developed through judicial decisions rather than statutes. Although common law may incorporate certain statutes, it is largely based on prece ...

criminal procedure Criminal procedure is the adjudication process of the criminal law. While criminal procedure differs dramatically by jurisdiction, the process generally begins with a formal criminal charge with the person on trial either being free on bail ...

. The principal source of

for California criminal procedure is the

, Part 2, "Of Criminal Procedure." Every year in California, approximately 150 thousand violent crimes and 1 million

property crimes Property crime is a category of crime, usually involving private property, that includes, among other crimes, burglary, larceny, theft, motor vehicle theft, arson, shoplifting, and vandalism. Property crime is a crime to obtain money, property, ...

are committed. With a population of about 40 million people, approximately 1.2 million arrests are made every year in California. The

California superior courts Superior courts in California are the state trial courts with general jurisdiction to hear and decide any civil or criminal action which is not specially designated to be heard in some other court or before a governmental agency. As mandated by ...

hear about 270,000

felony A felony is traditionally considered a crime of high seriousness, whereas a misdemeanor is regarded as less serious. The term "felony" originated from English common law (from the French medieval word "''félonie''") to describe an offense that r ...

cases, 900,000

misdemeanor A misdemeanor (American English, spelled misdemeanour elsewhere) is any "lesser" criminal act in some common law legal systems. Misdemeanors are generally punished less severely than more serious felonies, but theoretically more so than admi ...

cases, and 5 million

infraction A summary offence or petty offence is a violation in some common law jurisdictions that can be proceeded against summarily, without the right to a jury trial and/or indictment (required for an indictable offence). Canada In Canada, summary of ...

cases every year. There are currently 130,000 people in state prisons and 70,000 people in county jails. Of these, there are 746 people who have been sentenced to death.These are the 746 inmates awaiting execution on California's death row
''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'', Paige St. John & Maloy Moore, August 24, 2017. Retrieved November 24, 2017.

Policing

In 2018, California had 531 state and local law enforcement agencies. Those agencies employed a total of 130,451 staff. Of the total staff, 79,038 were sworn officers (defined as those with general arrest powers).

Police ratio

In 2018, California had 200 police officers per 100,000 residents.

Capital punishment laws

The

death penalty Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence ordering that an offender be punished in s ...

(also known as capital punishment) is still legal in California, although Governor

Gavin Newsom Gavin Christopher Newsom ( ; born October 10, 1967) is an American politician and businessman serving since 2019 as the 40th governor of California. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served from 2011 to 201 ...

issued a moratorium on the use on March 13, 2019. The last execution was issued for Clarence Ray Allen on January 17, 2006, through

lethal injection Lethal injection is the practice of injecting one or more drugs into a person (typically a barbiturate, paralytic, and potassium) for the express purpose of causing death. The main application for this procedure is capital punishment, but t ...

Organized crime

Organized crime in California involves the criminal activities of

organized crime Organized crime is a category of transnational organized crime, transnational, national, or local group of centralized enterprises run to engage in illegal activity, most commonly for profit. While organized crime is generally thought of as a f ...

groups,

street gang A gang is a social group, group or secret society, society of associates, friends, or members of a family with a defined leadership and internal organization that identifies with or claims control over Wiktionary:territory#Noun, territory in a ...

s, criminal extremists, and

terrorists Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of violence against non-combatants to achieve political or ideological aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violence during peacetime or in the context of war aga ...

. Traditional organized crime are in the form of

Cosa Nostra The Sicilian Mafia or Cosa Nostra (, ; "our thing"), also referred to as simply Mafia, is a criminal society and criminal organization originating on the island of Sicily and dates back to the mid-19th century. Emerging as a form of local protect ...

(LCN),

Sicilian Mafia The Sicilian Mafia or Cosa Nostra (, ; "our thing"), also referred to as simply Mafia, is a secret society, criminal society and criminal organization originating on the island of Sicily and dates back to the mid-19th century. Emerging as a form of ...

, and

Camorra The Camorra (; ) is an Italian Mafia-typeMafia and Mafia-type orga ...

. Eurasian criminal networks specialize in

white-collar crime The term "white-collar crime" refers to financially motivated, nonviolent or non-directly violent crime committed by individuals, businesses and government professionals. The crimes are believed to be committed by middle- or upper-class indivi ...

fraud In law, fraud is intent (law), intentional deception to deprive a victim of a legal right or to gain from a victim unlawfully or unfairly. Fraud can violate Civil law (common law), civil law (e.g., a fraud victim may sue the fraud perpetrato ...

prostitution Prostitution is a type of sex work that involves engaging in sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, no ...

and

human trafficking Human trafficking is the act of recruiting, transporting, transferring, harboring, or receiving individuals through force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of exploitation. This exploitation may include forced labor, sexual slavery, or oth ...

. Crime cells from Southeast Asia, Latin America, and Eastern Europe impact public safety and the state's economy.

Gangs

Gangs in California are classified into three categories: criminal street gangs,

prison gang A prison gang is an inmate organization that operates within a prison system. It has a corporate entity and exists into perpetuity. Its membership is restrictive, mutually exclusive, and often requires a lifetime commitment. Prison officials and ot ...

s, and outlaw

motorcycle gang An outlaw motorcycle club, known colloquially as a biker club or club (in Australia), is a motorcycle subculture generally centered on the use of cruiser motorcycles, particularly Harley-Davidsons and choppers, and a set of ideals that purpo ...

s. Gang operations usually include "assault, auto theft, drive-by shooting, illegal drug and narcotic manufacturing, drug and narcotic trafficking, forgery, fraud, home invasion robbery, identity theft, murder, weapons trafficking, witness intimidation, and violence against law enforcement."

Terrorism

Domestic criminal extremists include various racial supremacy groups. International terrorists include

Al-Qaeda , image = Flag of Jihad.svg , caption = Jihadist flag, Flag used by various al-Qaeda factions , founder = Osama bin Laden{{Assassinated, Killing of Osama bin Laden , leaders = {{Plainlist, * Osama bin Lad ...

, Mujahedin-e-Khalq (MEK), and Jamaat ul-Fuqra (JUF).

Notable incidents

* 1846–73:

California genocide The California genocide was a series of genocidal massacres of the indigenous peoples of California by United States soldiers and settlers during the 19th century. It began following the American conquest of California in the Mexican–Americ ...

—non-Natives killed between 9,492 and 16,094 California Natives * 1856–57: The Flores Daniel Gang. ** Juan Flores—hanged for

murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse committed with the necessary Intention (criminal law), intention as defined by the law in a specific jurisd ...

** Pancho Daniel—

lynched Lynching is an extrajudicial killing by a group. It is most often used to characterize informal public executions by a mob in order to punish an alleged or convicted transgressor or to intimidate others. It can also be an extreme form of in ...

by a citizen mob * 1871: Los Angeles Chinese massacre of 1871 * 1877: San Francisco riot of 1877 * 1883: Lexington murders * 1892: John and Charles Ruggles–hanged for robbing a Wells Fargo stagecoach * 1899: J. Ellis Rodley—convicted of

perjury Perjury (also known as forswearing) is the intentional act of swearing a false oath or falsifying an affirmation to tell the truth, whether spoken or in writing, concerning matters material to an official proceeding."Perjury The act or an insta ...

; sentenced to 12 years in prison * 1905–08:

San Francisco graft trials The San Francisco graft trials were a series of attempts from 1905 to 1908 to prosecute public officials in the city of San Francisco, California, for Graft (politics), graft and other political corruption. Only one person was convicted and went ...

Abe Ruef Abraham Ruef (September 2, 1864 – February 29, 1936) was an American lawyer and politician. He gained notoriety as the corrupt political boss behind the administration of Mayor Eugene Schmitz of San Francisco during the period before and after ...

—the only person convicted as part of the graft trials; pleaded guilty to bribery and sentenced to 14 years in prison * 1910: Los Angeles Times bombing * 1913: Wheatland hop riot * 1917:

1917 Sacramento Governor's Mansion bombing The 1917 Sacramento Governor's Mansion bombing took place just before midnight on December 17, 1917 when about 25 sticks of dynamite exploded near the rear porch of the Governor's Mansion just blocks from the Capitol Building. Background Well k ...

* 1923: Japanese mission school fire * 1927: Murder of Marion Parker * 1937: September 1937 Folsom escape attempt * 1940–41: Sacramento Mad Killer * 1942:

Sleepy Lagoon murder The Sleepy Lagoon murder refers to the 1942 death of José Gallardo Díaz, a young Mexican-American man found dying near a reservoir in Commerce, California, on August 2, 1942. The name Sleepy Lagoon murder was used by the Los Angeles newspapers ...

* 1943:

Zoot Suit Riots The Zoot Suit Riots were a series of riots that took place June 3–8, 1943, in Los Angeles, California, United States, involving United States Armed Forces, American servicemen stationed in Southern California and young Latino and Mexican ...

* 1946:

Battle of Alcatraz The Battle of Alcatraz, which lasted from May 2 to 4, 1946, was the result of an escape attempt at Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary by armed convicts. Two Federal Bureau of Prisons officers—William A. Miller and Harold Stites—were killed (Miller ...

* 1947–56:

Battle of Sunset Strip The Los Angeles crime family, also known as the Dragna crime family, the Southern California crime family or the L.A. Mafia, and dubbed "the Mickey Mouse Mafia" by former Los Angeles Police Chief Daryl Gates, is an Italian Americans, Italian Amer ...

* 1947:

Black Dahlia Elizabeth Short (July 29, 1924 – , 1947), posthumously known as the Black Dahlia, was an American woman found murdered in the Leimert Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, on January 15, 1947. Her case became highly publicized owin ...

murder * 1951:

Bloody Christmas (1951) Bloody Christmas was the severe beating of seven civilians by members of the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) on December 25, 1951. The attacks, which left five Mexican American and two white young men with broken bones and ruptured organs, ...

* 1958: Killing of Johnny Stompanato * 1965: ** 1965 Highway 101 sniper attack **

Watts riots The Watts riots, sometimes referred to as the Watts Rebellion or Watts Uprising, took place in the Watts neighborhood and its surrounding areas of Los Angeles from August 11 to 16, 1965. The riots were motivated by anger at the racist and abus ...

* 1966: ** Compton's Cafeteria riot ** Shooting of Leonard Deadwyler **

Murder of Cheri Jo Bates The murder of Cheri Jo Bates occurred in Riverside, California, on October 30, 1966. Bates, an 18-year-old college freshman, was stabbed and slashed to death on the grounds of Riverside City College. Police determined the assailant had disabled ...

* 1967: Murders of Theodore L. Newton Jr. and George F. Azrak * 1968–69:

Zodiac Killer The Zodiac Killer is the pseudonym of an unidentified serial killer who murdered five known victims in the San Francisco Bay Area between December 1968 and October 1969. The case has been described as "arguably the most famous unsolved murder ...

murders five known victims * 1968: ** Shooting of William Leonard **

Assassination of Robert F. Kennedy On June 5, 1968, Robert F. Kennedy was shot by Sirhan Sirhan at the Ambassador Hotel (Los Angeles), Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, California, and pronounced dead the following day. Kennedy, a United States senator and candidate in the 19 ...

* 1969: **

Tate–LaBianca murders On the night of August 8, 1969, Tex Watson took Susan Atkins, Linda Kasabian and Patricia Krenwinkel to 10050 Cielo Drive in Benedict Canyon, Los Angeles, California. Watson claims Charles Manson had instructed him go to the house and "totally des ...

** Killing of Meredith Hunter * 1970: ** Newhall incident ** Deaths of Guillermo Sanchez and Guillardo Sanchez **

Marin County Civic Center attacks The Marin County Civic Center attacks were two related attacks in 1970 at the Marin County Superior Court, located in the Marin County Civic Center in San Rafael, California, United States, tied to escalating racial tensions in the state's crimi ...

* 1971–83: Randy Kraft sentenced to death for 16 counts of murder; suspected of killing as many as 61 people * 1972: United California Bank burglary * 1973–74:

Zebra murders The "Zebra" murders were a string of racially motivated murders and related attacks committed by a group of four black serial killers in San Francisco, California, United States, from October 1973 to April 1974; they killed at least 15 white pe ...

* 1973: Assassination of Marcus Foster * 1974: ** Kidnapping of Patty Hearst ** 1974 Los Angeles International Airport bombing ** Murder of Arlis Perry **

Murder of Betty Van Patter Betty Louise Van Patter (née Floyd; October 12, 1929 – ) was a bookkeeper for the Black Panther Party, although she herself was white. Van Patter was murdered, a crime which remains unsolved. Biography After serving as a bookkeeper for ' ...

*1975: Assassination attempts of Gerald Ford in Sacramento and in San Francisco * 1976: ** California State University, Fullerton, massacre ** Gypsy Hill killings ** 1976 Chowchilla kidnapping ** Andrew J. Hinshaw—indicted on charges of

bribery Bribery is the corrupt solicitation, payment, or Offer and acceptance, acceptance of a private favor (a bribe) in exchange for official action. The purpose of a bribe is to influence the actions of the recipient, a person in charge of an official ...

embezzlement Embezzlement (from Anglo-Norman, from Old French ''besillier'' ("to torment, etc."), of unknown origin) is a type of financial crime, usually involving theft of money from a business or employer. It often involves a trusted individual taking ...

and misappropriation of public funds while serving as Orange County assessor. Convicted of bribery and sentenced to two concurrent 1‐to‐14 years terms in prison * 1977: ** Kidnapping of Colleen Stan ** Ventura Strangler ** Golden Dragon massacre ** Murder of Mary Quigley * 1977–78: Hillside Strangler * 1978: ** Oxnard Klan Riot of 1978 ** Moscone–Milk assassinations * 1978–79: Skid Row Stabber * 1979: ** Cleveland Elementary School shooting (San Diego) ** White Night riots * 1980: ** Norco shootout ** Murder of Suzanne Bombardier ** Death of Susan Louise Jordan * 1981: **

Keddie murders The Keddie murders are an List of unsolved murders (20th century), unsolved Mass murder, quadruple homicide that occurred over the night of April 1112, 1981, in Keddie, California, Keddie, California, United States. The victims were Glenna Susan ...

** Wonderland murders * 1984: ** Killing of Marvin Gaye ** Murder of Kirsten Costas **

San Ysidro McDonald's massacre The San Ysidro McDonald's massacre was a mass murder, which occurred at a McDonald's restaurant in the San Ysidro neighborhood of San Diego, California, on July 18, 1984. The perpetrator, 41-year-old James Huberty, fatally shot 22 people, incl ...

** Killing of Bibi Lee * 1985: Murder of Michele Avila * 1986: **

Murder of Sherri Rasmussen On February 24, 1986, the body of Sherri Rasmussen (born February 7, 1957) was found in the apartment she shared with her husband, John Ruetten, in the Van Nuys neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, United States. She had been beaten and shot ...

** 1986 San Francisco fireworks disaster ** Murder of Cara Knott * 1986–88: Bribery and Special Interest (BRISPEC) sting operation—led to the conviction and imprisonment of 12 public officials in the

California State Legislature The California State Legislature is the bicameral state legislature of the U.S. state of California, consisting of the California State Assembly (lower house with 80 members) and the California State Senate (upper house with 40 members). ...

. Elected officials convicted were: ** Paul Carpenter: sentenced to seven years for

conspiracy A conspiracy, also known as a plot, ploy, or scheme, is a secret plan or agreement between people (called conspirers or conspirators) for an unlawful or harmful purpose, such as murder, treason, or corruption, especially with a political motivat ...

mail fraud Mail fraud and wire fraud are terms used in the United States to describe the use of a physical (e.g., the U.S. Postal Service) or electronic (e.g., a phone, a telegram, a fax, or the Internet) mail system to defraud another, and are U.S. fede ...

and

obstruction of justice In United States jurisdictions, obstruction of justice refers to a number of offenses that involve unduly influencing, impeding, or otherwise interfering with the justice system, especially the legal and procedural tasks of prosecutors, investiga ...

** Frank Hill: sentenced to 46 months for

extortion Extortion is the practice of obtaining benefit (e.g., money or goods) through coercion. In most jurisdictions it is likely to constitute a criminal offence. Robbery is the simplest and most common form of extortion, although making unfounded ...

money laundering Money laundering is the process of illegally concealing the origin of money obtained from illicit activities (often known as dirty money) such as drug trafficking, sex work, terrorism, corruption, and embezzlement, and converting the funds i ...

and

** Joseph B. Montoya: served five years for extortion, money laundering, and

racketeering Racketeering is a type of organized crime in which the perpetrators set up a coercion, coercive, fraud, fraudulent, extortionary, or otherwise illegal coordinated scheme or operation (a "racket") to repeatedly or consistently collect a profit. ...

** Pat Nolan: sentenced to 33 months for racketeering ** Alan Robbins: sentenced to five years for racketeering and

income tax evasion Tax evasion or tax fraud is an illegal attempt to defeat the imposition of taxes by individuals, corporations, trusts, and others. Tax evasion often entails the deliberate misrepresentation of the taxpayer's affairs to the tax authorities to reduc ...

* 1987: Hijacking of Pacific Southwest Airlines Flight 1771 * 1988: ** Sunnyvale ESL shooting ** Dan Montecalvo case ** Kidnapping of Amber Swartz-Garcia ** Disappearance of Michaela Garecht * 1989:

Cleveland Elementary School shooting (Stockton) The Stockton schoolyard shooting (also known as the Cleveland Elementary School shooting and the Cleveland School massacre) was an act of mass murder which occurred at Cleveland Elementary School in Stockton, California, on January 17, 1989. T ...

* 1991–2009:

Kidnapping of Jaycee Dugard On June 10, 1991, Jaycee Lee Dugard, an eleven-year-old girl, was abducted from a street while walking to a school bus stop in Meyers, California, United States. Searches began immediately after Dugard's disappearance, but no reliable leads w ...

* 1991: **

Beating of Rodney King Rodney Glen King (April 2, 1965June 17, 2012) was a Black American victim of police brutality. On March 3, 1991, he was severely beaten by officers of the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) during his arrest after a high speed pursuit for ...

Killing of Latasha Harlins Latasha Harlins (January 1, 1976 – March 16, 1991) was an African American girl who was fatally shot at age 15 in Los Angeles by Soon Ja Du (), a 49-year-old Korean American convenience store owner. Du was tried and convicted of voluntary mans ...

1991 Sacramento hostage crisis On April 4, 1991, 41 employees and customers were taken hostage situation, hostage by four gunmen and held at a The Good Guys!, Good Guys! electronics store at the corner of 65th Street and Stockton Boulevard in Sacramento, California, near Flo ...

* 1992: ** 1992 Coachella shooting **

1992 Los Angeles riots The 1992 Los Angeles riots were a series of riots and civil disturbances that occurred in Los Angeles County, California, United States, during April and May 1992. Unrest began in South Los Angeles, South Central Los Angeles on April 29, after ...

Lindhurst High School shooting The Lindhurst High School shooting was a school shooting and subsequent hostage that occurred on May 1, 1992, at Lindhurst High School in Olivehurst, California, United States. The gunman, 20-year-old Eric Houston, was a former student at Lindhu ...

* 1993: ** Harbor City serial shootings ** 1993 Michael Jackson sexual abuse allegations ** Columbia Park gang shooting **

101 California Street shooting The 101 California Street shooting was a mass shooting on July 1, 1993, in San Francisco, California, United States. The killings sparked a number of legal and legislative actions that were precursors to the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforce ...

Murder of Polly Klaas Polly Hannah Klaas (January 3, 1981 – October 1, 1993) was an American murder victim whose case garnered national media attention. On October 1, 1993, at age 12, she was kidnapped at knifepoint during a slumber party at her mother's home in ...

** Murder of Lea Mek * 1994:

O. J. Simpson murder case ''The People of the State of California v. Orenthal James Simpson'' was a Criminal procedure, criminal trial in Los Angeles County Superior Court, in which former National Football League, NFL player and actor O. J. Simpson was tried and acquitt ...

* 1995: ** 1995 San Diego tank rampage ** Murder of Stephanie Kuhen ** Walter R. Tucker III—convicted on seven counts of

and two counts of

tax evasion Tax evasion or tax fraud is an illegal attempt to defeat the imposition of taxes by individuals, corporations, trusts, and others. Tax evasion often entails the deliberate misrepresentation of the taxpayer's affairs to the tax authorities to red ...

; sentenced to 27 months in prison * 1996: ** Han twins murder conspiracy ** 1996 San Diego State University shooting **

Lyle and Erik Menendez Joseph Lyle Menendez (born January 10, 1968) and Erik Galen Menendez (born November 27, 1970), commonly referred to as the Menendez brothers, are American brothers convicted of Parricide, killing their parents, José and Mary Louise "Kitty" Me ...

—sentenced to life in prison without parole for murdering their parents * 1997–2005: Black Widow Murders * 1997: ** Murder of Ennis Cosby **

North Hollywood shootout The North Hollywood shootout, also known as the Battle of North Hollywood, was a confrontation between two heavily armed and armored bank robbers, Larry Phillips Jr. and Emil Mătăsăreanu, and police officers in the North Hollywood neighborho ...

** Murder of the Notorious B.I.G. ** Dunbar Armored robbery * 1997–98: Rampart scandal * 1999: ** Costa Mesa school car attack ** Sacramento synagogue firebombings ** Murders of Gary Matson and Winfield Mowder **

Los Angeles Jewish Community Center shooting On August 10, 1999, at around 10:50 a.m. PT, American white supremacist Buford O. Furrow Jr. walked into the lobby of the North Valley Jewish Community Center in Granada Hills and opened fire with an Uzi sub machine gun, firing 70 bull ...

* 2000: ** 2000 LAX bombing plot ** Murder of Michelle O'Keefe * 2001: ** 2001 Isla Vista killings ** 2001 Nevada County shootings ** Santana High School shooting ** Stevenson Ranch shootout * 2002: **

2002 Los Angeles International Airport shooting On July 4, 2002, a lone gunman opened fire at the ticket counter of El Al, Israel's national airline, at Los Angeles International Airport in Los Angeles, California, United States. In the terrorist attack, two people were killed, and four othe ...

Murder of Gwen Araujo Gwen Amber Rose Araujo (February 24, 1985 – October 4, 2002) was an American teenager who was murdered in Newark, California, at the age of 17. She was murdered by four men, two of whom she had been sexually intimate with, who beat and s ...

Murder of Laci Peterson Laci Denise Peterson (née Rocha; May 4, 1975 — ) was an American woman murdered by her husband, Scott Lee Peterson (born October 24, 1972), while eight months pregnant with their first child. The case has remained a subject of public interest ...

* 2003: **

Murder of Lana Clarkson On the morning of February 3, 2003, American actress Lana Clarkson was found dead inside the Pyrenees Castle, the Alhambra, California, mansion of record producer Phil Spector. In the early hours of that morning, Clarkson had met Spector while wor ...

** Shooting of Deandre Brunston ** Santa Monica Farmers Market crash ** Murder of Yetunde Price * 2004: ** 2004 Jenner, California, double murder ** Murders of Thomas and Jackie Hawks ** Albert T. Robles—convicted of 30 counts of bribery, money laundering, and depriving the electorate; sentenced to 10 years and ordered to pay $639,000 restitution * 2005: Randall Harold Cunningham—pleaded guilty to tax evasion, conspiracy to commit bribery, mail fraud and wire fraud; sentenced to 100 months. Conditionally pardoned in 2021 * 2006: **

Goleta postal facility shootings The Goleta postal facility shootings was a spree killing perpetrated by Jennifer San Marco on January 30, 2006. San Marco, a former United States Postal Service employee, shot and killed six people in Goleta, California before taking her own li ...

** Paul Richards—sentenced to 16 years in federal prison on bribery and kickback charges * 2007: ** 2007 MacArthur Park rallies Incident ** Hawthorne High School gang violence **

Murder of Chauncey Bailey Chauncey Bailey was an American journalist and the editor-in-chief of '' The Oakland Post''. He was shot dead on a downtown Oakland street on August 2, 2007, the victim of a crime syndicate he was investigating for a story. Bailey's death outrag ...

** 2007 De Anza College rape investigation * 2008: ** Murder of Larry King ** Ed Jew—found guilty of extortion, bribery, and perjury ** Murder of Jamiel Shaw II ** Murder of the Bologna family ** Murders of Jan Pietrzak and Quiana Jenkins-Pietrzak ** SiPort shooting ** Covina massacre * 2009: **

Shooting of Oscar Grant Oscar Grant III was a 22-year-old black man who was killed in the early morning hours of New Year's Day 2009 by Bay Area Rapid Transit Police Department, BART Police Officer Johannes Mehserle in Oakland, California. Responding to reports of a f ...

** Murder of Sandra Cantu **

2009 shootings of Oakland police officers Four police officers in Oakland, California, were fatally shot on March 21, 2009, by Lovelle Mixon, a convicted felon wanted on a no-bail warrant for a parole violation. Mixon shot and killed two police officers of the Oakland Police Department ...

** 2009 Richmond High School gang rape * 2010: ** Murder of Lydia Schatz ** Oakland freeway shootout ** Killing of Douglas Zerby * 2011: ** Murder of Jeff Hall **

Murder of Michelle Le On May 27, 2011, Michelle Hoang Thi Le (October 12, 1984 – May 27, 2011) a 26-year-old American nursing student from the Kaiser Permanente Medical Center (Hayward, California), Kaiser Permanente Medical Center, was murdered in the San Francisc ...

** Killing of Kelly Thomas ** 2011 Seal Beach shooting **

Southern California Edison shooting On December 16, 2011, a mass shooting occurred inside a Southern California Edison office building in Irwindale, California. The gunman, Andre Turner, killed two employees and wounded two others before committing suicide. Shooting Andre Turner, ...

* 2011–12 Los Angeles arson attacks * 2012: ** Lei family murders ** 2012 Oikos University shooting ** Murders of Ming Qu and Ying Wu ** 2012 Anaheim, California police shooting and protests ** Fresno meat plant shooting * 2013: ** Christopher Dorner shootings and manhunt **

2013 shooting of Santa Cruz police officers On February 26, 2013, Santa Cruz Police Department officers Sergeant Loran Baker and Detective Elizabeth Butler were shot and killed during an investigation. After a short interaction regarding an allegation and a negotiation to be placed under a ...

** Murders of Claudia Maupin and Oliver Northup **

Murder of Gabriel Fernandez On May 24, 2013, Gabriel Fernandez (February 20, 2005 – May 24, 2013), an eight-year-old boy from Palmdale, California, who had been abused and tortured over a period of months, died due to a beating from his mother, Pearl Fernandez, and her b ...

** 2013 Santa Monica shootings ** Kidnapping of Hannah Anderson ** Killing of Andy Lopez ** 2013 Los Angeles International Airport shooting ** Shooting of Ricardo Diaz Zeferino **

Bob Filner Robert Earl Filner (September 4, 1942 – April 20, 2025) was an American politician who was the 35th mayor of San Diego from December 2012 through August 2013, when he resigned amid multiple allegations of sexual harassment. He later pleaded g ...

—pleaded guilty to charges of

false imprisonment False imprisonment or unlawful imprisonment occurs when a person intentionally restricts another person's movement within any area without legal authority, justification, or the restrained person's permission. Actual physical restraint is n ...

and battery. * 2013–14: Interstate 80 rapist * 2014–16: San Francisco Police Department text message scandal * 2014: ** 2014 Stockton bank robbery ** Killing of Ezell Ford **

Leland Yee Leland Yin Yee (; born November 20, 1948) is an American former politician who served as a member of the California State Senate for District 8, which covered parts of San Francisco and the Peninsula. Prior to becoming state senator, Yee was a ...

—corruption and arms trafficking ** Killing of Alex Nieto **

2014 Isla Vista killings Two misogynistic terror, misogynistic terrorist attacks occurred in Isla Vista, California, United States on the evening of May 23, 2014. 22-year-old Elliot Rodger killed six people and injured fourteen others by gunshot, stabbing and vehicle ...

* 2015: ** 2015 San Bernardino attack ** Killing of Meagan Hockaday ** Killing of Charley Leundeu Keunang ** Murder of Madyson Middleton ** Shooting of Kate Steinle ** Matthew Muller sentenced to 31 and 40 years in prison after pleading guilty and

no contest ''Nolo contendere'' () is a type of legal plea used in some jurisdictions in the United States. It is also referred to as a plea of no contest or no defense. It is a plea where the defendant neither admits nor disputes a charge, serving as an ...

to charges of

kidnapping Kidnapping or abduction is the unlawful abduction and confinement of a person against their will, and is a crime in many jurisdictions. Kidnapping may be accomplished by use of force or fear, or a victim may be enticed into confinement by frau ...

burglary Burglary, also called breaking and entering (B&E) or housebreaking, is a property crime involving the illegal entry into a building or other area without permission, typically with the intention of committing a further criminal offence. Usually ...

, forcible rape, battery,

assault In the terminology of law, an assault is the act of causing physical harm or consent, unwanted physical contact to another person, or, in some legal definitions, the threat or attempt to do so. It is both a crime and a tort and, therefore, may ...

, and

. * 2016: ** Orange County Men's Central Jail escape ** 2016 UCLA shooting ** Killing of Joseph Mann * 2017: ** 2017 North Park Elementary School shooting ** 2017 Fresno shootings ** San Francisco UPS shooting ** Rancho Tehama shootings * 2017-19: Ed Buck—sentenced to 30 years in prison on 9 federal counts including providing fatal doses of methamphetamine to two men * 2018: ** Murder of Blaze Bernstein ** Killing of Stephon Clark **

Hart family murders The Hart family murders was a murder–suicide which took place on March 26, 2018, in Mendocino County, California, United States. Jennifer Hart (38) and her wife, Sarah Hart (38), killed themselves and their six adopted children: Ciera (12), ...

** Yountville shooting ** Murder of Anthony Avalos **

Thousand Oaks shooting On November 7, 2018, a mass shooting occurred in Thousand Oaks, California, United States, at the Borderline Bar and Grill, a country-western bar frequented by college students. Thirteen people were killed, including the perpetrator, who died of ...

** Tulare County shootings * 2019: **

Poway synagogue shooting A shooting occurred on April 27, 2019, at Chabad of Poway synagogue in Poway, California, United States, a city which borders the north inland side of San Diego, on the last day of the Jewish Passover holiday, which fell on a Shabbat. Armed wit ...

Gilroy Garlic Festival shooting On July 28, 2019, a mass shooting occurred at the Gilroy Garlic Festival in Gilroy, California. The gunman killed three people and wounded 17 others before killing himself after a shootout with responding police officers. , investigators had no ...

** Orinda shooting ** 2019 Saugus High School shooting ** 2019 Fresno shooting ** Union City, California elementary school double murder ** Normandie Burgos—sentenced to 255 years in prison on 60 counts of child molestation, including forcible sodomy and lewd conduct upon minors * 2020–24: San Francisco Department of Public Works corruption scandal * 2020: ** 2020 boogaloo murders ** Killing of Andres Guardado ** Killing of Dijon Kizzee ** Aguanga shooting ** 2020 shooting of Los Angeles police officers **

Anthony Levandowski Anthony Levandowski (born March 15, 1980) is a French-American self-driving car engineer. In 2009, Levandowski co-founded Google's self-driving car program, known as Waymo, and was a technical lead until 2016. In 2010, he co-founded Google X al ...

—pleaded guilty to one count of trade secret theft. Pardoned in 2020. **

José Huizar José Luis Huizar (born September 10, 1968) is a Mexican-American former politician who served as a member of the Los Angeles City Council from 2005 to 2020. Huizar was elected on November 8, 2005, in a special election to fill the seat vacated ...

—pleaded guilty to charges of

and

; sentenced to 13 years in prison and ordered to pay $443,905 in restitution to the

City of Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Southern California. With an estimated 3,878,704 residents within the city ...

and $38,792 in restitution to the

Internal Revenue Service The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the revenue service for the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, which is responsible for collecting Taxation in the United States, U.S. federal taxes and administerin ...

* 2021–22: Stockton serial shootings * 2021: ** Killing of Vicha Ratanapakdee ** 2021 Orange, California office shooting **

2021 San Jose shooting On May 26, 2021, a mass shooting occurred at a Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) rail yard in San Jose, California, United States. A 57-year-old VTA employee, Samuel James Cassidy, shot and killed nine VTA employees before kill ...

Mitchell Englander Mitchell Englander (born 1970) is an American former politician who served as a member of the Los Angeles City Council, representing District 12 in the San Fernando Valley, until he resigned December 31, 2018. While serving in City Council, he w ...

–sentenced to 14 months in prison, three years of supervised release and a $15,000 fine after pleading guilty to falsifying material facts during interviews with federal investigators who were conducting a

corruption Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense that is undertaken by a person or an organization that is entrusted in a position of authority to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's gain. Corruption may involve activities ...

probe at

Los Angeles City Council The Los Angeles City Council is the Legislature, lawmaking body for the Government of Los Angeles, city government of Los Angeles, California, the second largest city in the United States. It has 15 members who each represent the 15 city council ...

** Torrance Police Department text message scandal * 2022: ** Murder of Brianna Kupfer **

2022 Sacramento shooting On April 3, 2022, at approximately 2:00 a.m., a mass shooting occurred in downtown Sacramento, California, United States. Six people were killed and twelve others were injured. ''The Sacramento Bee'' described it as the "worst mass shootin ...

** 2022 Laguna Woods shooting ** 2022 Brink's theft—$8.7–100 million worth of jewelry stolen from the back of a

Brink's The Brink's Company is an American Automated cash handling, cash handling company, headquartered in Richmond, Virginia. Its operations include cash-in-transit, ATM replenishment & maintenance, and cash management & payment services, such as va ...

truck parked at a

truck stop A truck stop (known as a service station in the United Kingdom, a travel center by major chains in the United States and a roadhouse in rural Australia) is a commercial facility which provides refueling, rest (parking), and often ready-made f ...

off I-5 near Lebec. ** Killing of Rob Marquise Adams ** Killing of Savannah Graziano ** 2022 Oakland school shooting **

Attack on Paul Pelosi On October 28, 2022, 42-year-old David DePape attacked Paul Pelosi, the husband of Nancy Pelosi, the 52nd Speaker of the United States House of Representatives. He beat Pelosi with a hammer during a home invasion of the couple's Pacific Heights ...

Elizabeth Holmes Elizabeth Anne Holmes (born February 3, 1984) is an American biotechnology entrepreneur who was convicted of fraud in connection with her blood-testing company, Theranos. The company's valuation soared after it claimed to have revolutionize ...

—found guilty of three counts of wire fraud, and one of conspiracy to commit wire fraud ** Ramesh "Sunny" Balwani—found guilty of nine counts of wire fraud and two counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud **

Michael Avenatti Michael John Avenatti (born February 16, 1971) is an American former attorney currently incarcerated in federal prison for felony fraud and extortion. He is best known for his legal representation of Pornographic film actor, adult film actress S ...

—sentenced to 14 years in prison and ordered to pay nearly $11 million in restitution for embezzlement and fraud * 2023: ** 2023 Goshen shooting ** 2023 Monterey Park shooting ** 2023 Half Moon Bay shootings ** 2023 Trabuco Canyon shooting ** Harry Sidhu—pleaded guilty to one count of

, one count of

wire fraud Mail fraud and wire fraud are terms used in the United States to describe the use of a physical (e.g., the U.S. Postal Service) or electronic (e.g., a phone, a telegram, a fax, or the Internet) mail system to defraud another, and are U.S. fede ...

, and two counts of making false statements to the

Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

and the

Federal Aviation Administration The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is a Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government agency within the United States Department of Transportation, U.S. Department of Transportation that regulates civil aviation in t ...

** Michelle and Kenneth Mack—sentenced to five years in prison for organized retail theft and

to commit organized retail theft * 2024: ** Easter Sunday heist ** Alleged Assassination attempt on Donald Trump at a rally in Coachella ** 2024 Santa Monica College shooting ** Irma Olguin Jr. and Jake Soberal, co-founders and co-CEOs of Bitwise Industries plead guilty to

** Jorge Armando Contreras—sentenced to 70 months in federal prison for

** Leonard Glenn Francis ("Fat Leonard")—sentenced to 15 years in prison for bribery, fraud, and failure to appear in court ** Ex-Congressman TJ Cox pleaded guilty to two fraud counts and agreed to pay up to $3.5 million in restitution * 2025: ** David Misch—sentenced to two 25-years-to-life terms in prison for the 1986 murders of Michelle Xavier and Jennifer Duey; following an earlier life sentence for the murder of Margaret Ball. ** Ippei Mizuhara—sentenced to 57 months in federal prison and ordered to pay $17 million in restitution to

Shohei Ohtani is a Japanese professional baseball designated hitter and pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers of Major League Baseball (MLB). Nicknamed "Shotime", he has previously played in MLB for the Los Angeles Angels and in Nippon Professional Basebal ...

after pleading guilty to

bank fraud Bank fraud is the use of potentially illegal means to obtain money, assets, or other property owned or held by a financial institution, or to obtain money from depositors by fraudulently posing as a bank or other financial institution. In many ins ...

and submitting a false tax return. ** Thomas Girardi—sentenced to 87 months in prison, fined $35,000 and ordered to pay restitution of $2.3 million for

and

** Andrew Do—sentenced to five years in federal prison after pleading guilty to

to commit

. ** 2025 Palm Springs fertility clinic bombing