Newsom Visits San Quentin Film Festival as California's Murder Rate Falls to Lowest Since 1966, Recidivism to Record Low
California Governor Gavin Newsom visited the San Quentin Rehabilitation Center in Marin County on October 23 for the third annual San Quentin Film Festival, the nation's first film festival held inside a prison. The Governor's Office said California's public safety strategy — combining law enforcement and accountability with crime prevention, victim support, rehabilitation and pathways to successful reentry — has brought statewide crime rates and prison recidivism rates to historic lows.
According to the latest statewide figures released by the Governor's Office, compared with 2024, homicides in California fell 18.6% in 2025, reaching the lowest level since 1966; robberies fell 19.9%, violent crime 10.2%, property crime 14.3% and motor vehicle theft 25.8%. Since Newsom took office, homicide is down 20%, robbery 31%, property crime 24%, motor vehicle theft 19% and violent crime 3%.
On rehabilitation and education, data from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) show that 81.5% of people released after earning Rehabilitation Achievement Credits remained conviction-free for three years; the figure was 76.7% for those earning Educational Merit Credits and 66.7% for those participating in general rehabilitative programming. Among people released after a parole hearing, 97.5% did not reoffend.
Higher education now spans the state prison system: all 30 institutions offer community college distance or correspondence courses, and bachelor's degree programs are available at 12 institutions. At San Quentin, 34 students began a Cal State LA bachelor's degree program in Liberal Studies in August through the prison's new Learning Center, a 21-month program. Incarcerated students have so far earned 9,966 associate degrees, 451 bachelor's degrees and 48 master's degrees, with associate and bachelor's programs offered free of charge. The Governor's Office cited research by the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) finding that people who participated in college programs were 31% more likely to have jobs after release.
"Public safety means bringing crime down, holding people accountable, supporting victims and giving people a real opportunity to change," Newsom said during the visit. The Governor's Office said California has directed $546.8 million toward public safety efforts since 2019, including the California Violence Intervention and Prevention (CalVIP) grant program and victim services, and that earlier this week the Governor established an interagency effort focused on community safety, violence prevention and intervention, and victim support. The measures form part of the state's broader $2.1 billion public safety effort.
Source: GSM·USA
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: San Quentin 改造中心（资料图）。 Photo: Frank Schulenburg via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
