By admin 
Gov. Gavin Newsom is directing state agencies to better collaborate on public safety. The push is attempting to cut down on wait times for crime victims accessing services and take inventory of the state’s violence prevention efforts under his tenure, according to an executive order obtained by The Sacramento Bee.
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California’s homicide rate dropped to its lowest-ever level on record in 2025, as the number of violent crimes and homicides has dropped in recent decades, both statewide and nationally.
State agencies like the Department of Health Care Services, California Victim Compensation Board, the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Department of Social Services and the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services will be mandated to take inventory of their work to address domestic and interpersonal violence, suicide, and assist crime victims.
Newsom’s office touted the order as its latest effort to build on the drops in violent crime that California has witnessed in recent years as the White House has canceled federal grants to support crime victims, like funding for domestic violence shelters and the national Crime Victims Fund.
“California has made historic progress on public safety, and we have to protect it,” Newsom said in a statement on Wednesday. “By continuing to bring agencies together to measure results, close gaps and build on what works, we can help ensure this progress continues for years to come.”
The California Department of Justice and agencies within it, like the Office of Gun Violence Prevention and Bureau of Firearms, are also requested to participate in data-sharing efforts, according to the order.
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The order, which went into effect immediately upon Newsom’s signature, requires those agencies to produce a memorandum about their efforts by Dec. 18, three weeks before Newsom leaves office.
Newsom’s critics have long tried to paint the governor as lax on crime as concerns about homelessness and petty crime reached a fever pitch during the pandemic as videos of public smash-and-grabs in cities like San Francisco went viral.
More recently, the outgoing governor — who is expected to run for president in 2028 — has mulled commuting all 536 state death row prisoners’ sentences to life without parole. He first enacted a moratorium on death sentences in 2019, which the next governor could restart.
Newsom’s proposal has received a lukewarm reception among allies in the Legislature.
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