California Decriminalization Timeline '85 - '21

This week, in light of the recent surge in violent and retail crime across California, PORAC (Peace Officers Research Association of California) released our new Decriminalization Timeline. This Timeline draws on violent crime data from the Bureau of Justice Statistics to demonstrate a clear correlation between California’s violent crime trends and the state’s major laws, policies, ballot measures, and court decisions from the past three decades.

The data shows that when our state prioritizes putting and keeping violent criminals behind bars, Californians are safer. Conversely, when California focuses on reducing our prison population, reclassifying felonies as misdemeanors, and treating violent criminals as the “victims” of law enforcement, Californians are at greater risk of harm.

It would be easy to look at this timeline and think that overall, violent crime has gone down, but that would be a mistake. Such an assumption ignores the fact that violent crime is on the rise and runs contrary to the lived experiences of so many Californians, who are victimized by violent criminals on the streets of our major cities each and every day. While there are many factors that influence crime rates, like education, socioeconomic conditions, and geography, this Timeline emphasizes the significant impact of legislative actions on public safety.

Did you know that most Californians aren’t even aware that in this state, rape by intoxication, rape of an unconscious person, drive-by shootings, or even the discharge of a firearm on school grounds, have been downgraded to ‘non-violent’ felonies? If these crimes were still classified as ‘violent crimes’, California’s ability to keep violent criminals behind bars and prevent the continued victimization of law-abiding citizens would be much greater. By reclassifying so many serious and violent felonies down to non-violent felonies and misdemeanors, Propositions 47 & 57 have helped to create the conditions for today’s rising violent crime rate that runs contrary to the lived experiences of so many Californians.

As the California Legislature embarks on the 2024 legislative session, we urge elected officials to use this Timeline as a resource when considering further criminal justice and public safety reforms. If lawmakers are truly interested in the safety and well-being of their constituents, they will put every law through the lens of how it will impact victims first. It’s time we got back to that.?

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