Oakland cut killings to a 60-year low. How did it happen?

OAKLAND — Oakland recorded its fewest homicides in nearly six decades last year, a striking turnaround that came despite historic lows in the number of police officers on the force.

The number of killings investigated last year fell to 67, with 57 of those categorized as murders — excluding cases such as justifiable homicides — a total not seen since 1967, according to data compiled by this news organization.

Overall violent crime — homicides, injury shootings, aggravated assaults, rape and robberies — was down 25% from 2024, Interim Police Chief Jim Beere said at a Wednesday news conference.

Robberies declined by 43%, burglaries by 16% and vehicle thefts by 40% through Dec. 28, compared to the same period the previous year, according to Oakland Police Department data.

The numbers mark a sharp reversal from a spike in violence during the worst years of the COVID-19 pandemic.

On Wednesday, Mayor Barbara Lee and police leaders credited the city’s violence intervention program, as well as surveillance technology and help from the California Highway Patrol, with driving much of the decline.

“That is still 67 too many,” Lee said, referring to last year’s total homicide count. “Behind that number, though, lives are saved — families who didn’t get the worst phone call of their lives, young people who are still with us.”

Lee took office in May after voters removed former Mayor Sheng Thao in the November 2024 election. The recall effort against Thao began in earnest after a devastating surge of pandemic-era violence that culminated with 125 investigated homicides in 2023.

Thao had vowed to bring down crime by reviving a violence prevention strategy, Operation Ceasefire, that she said became dormant under a previous administration.

The nationally recognized program targets the small fraction of residents – roughly 240 to 350 people – most involved in gun violence, offering job training and other support while warning that those who refuse will face swift enforcement.

On Wednesday, city leaders said the strategy has driven the recent crime reduction.

“We believe that most people caught in cycles of violence want a way out,” said Holly Joshi, who was hired as chief of the city’s Department of Violence Prevention in late 2023. “With the right supports and opportunities, (they) can reinvent themselves.”

A violent start to 2026 put a slight damper on Wednesday’s news conference. Over the first four days of the year, Oakland police investigated five killings, including a triple homicide at an East Oakland market.

Police have arrested a suspect in the Jan. 1 killing of a man on East 20th Street, while Beere said Wednesday that a separate fatal shooting at a store in North Oakland was determined to have been in self-defense.

“Even with the historic progress, gun violence remains a challenge,” Lee acknowledged.

Beere added that officers were nearing key arrests in Saturday’s triple homicide. He noted that OPD has doubled down on street patrol shifts, which he called the “backbone” of the department. Officers in certain other units, such as foot patrol and community resource officers, had been transferred to nightly patrol shifts.

There were 607 sworn officers as of Wednesday — a number that Sgt. Huy Nguyen, the head of the police officers’ union, said is lower than at any other time in his 26-year career.

Beere began serving as the interim chief in November, following Chief Floyd Mitchell’s abrupt resignation weeks earlier. The recruitment of a permanent replacement for Mitchell is just beginning and may take much of 2026 to complete.

OPD, meanwhile, continues to struggle with its 911 response times. Recent data showed that police response is becoming faster, but still lags behind California standards.

City leaders acknowledged Wednesday that some residents and business owners may not feel as safe as the numbers would suggest.

“I am sure, 100%, that there are robberies that occurred in our community that haven’t been reported,” Beere said. But with violent crime, he added, “those numbers aren’t skewed — those are actual lives, human beings.”

Shomik Mukherjee is a reporter covering Oakland. Call or text him at 510-905-5495 or email him at shomik@bayareanewsgroup.com.