Murder cases hit 50-year low in 2025. Fresno ‘has turned the corner,’ mayor says
The city of Fresno tallied 22 murder cases in 2025, a decrease from the previous year and the lowest number since 1974, according to numbers from police on Tuesday.
Mayor Jerry Dyer touted the 70% dip in murder cases from the high counts of 74 in 2020 and 2021. Twenty-two from 2025 was also a 27% decrease from 30 the previous year.
“This city has turned the corner,” Dyer said Tuesday during a news conference to assess crime from the prior 12 months.
“We are a much safer city today than we have ever been in the history of the city of Fresno.”
Fresno’s statistics were not unlike what cities across the country experienced as the murder cases fell by 19.8%, according to the Real-Time Crime Index, which collects data from 600 municipalities nationwide.
Dyer said the fall in Fresno was significant in a city that for decades has had a reputation for violence, and particularly gang violence.
“Fresno’s reductions are far more dramatic than anywhere else than I’ve heard of in the entire country, and not just violent crime, property crime as well,” he said.
Other violent crimes also fell in 2025 in Fresno, which recorded a 27% reduction in shootings into buildings, cars and at people from 2024. There were 34% fewer non-fatal shootings of people, according to police.
Police Chief Mindy Casto said detectives cleared 105% of the homicide investigations in 2025.
The statistics in policing can appear strange because the FBI requires police agencies to count the clearance of a murder case in the year police determine it was solved even if the crime was from a previous year. That’s how a rate can exceed 100%.
Castro said she believed the department made strides in 2025 to meet its goals of preservation of life, building trust with the community, crime reduction and improving the quality of life.
“These are about the people and the families that didn’t have to deal with the tragedy in our city this year of a lost loved one and all the ripple effects that has on so many lives,” she said. “So we’re grateful we’ve been able to make this kind of an impact, not just for ourselves to stand here and be proud, but for the people in this community to actually have a better chance of life.”
Property crimes and violent crimes fell
Violent crimes trended downward overall by 5% as robbery (7%) and aggravated assault (5%) fell from the previous year. Rape reports rose by 2% from the previous year.
There were 1,250 fewer vehicles stolen in Fresno in 2025 than one year before, police said. That’s a decrease of 34% of stolen cars while other property crimes also dipped: commercial burglary (6%), residential burglary (16%), larceny (21%) and vehicle burglary (27%).
Property crime fell by 24% overall, police said.
Traffic fatalities and pedestrian deaths
While the 45 deaths in traffic collisions was a decrease from 54 in 2024, the number of pedestrian fatalities rose. Twenty-eight pedestrian deaths in vehicle crashes in 2025 was two more than the year before.
Traffic police also handed out about 7,000 more traffic tickets in 2025 than the previous year for a total of 40,332, police said.
Casto said the department conducts routine traffic enforcement efforts to attempt to crack down on speeding and distracted drivers. She pointed to 47 such operations in 2025.
There were about 2,400 DUI arrests in 2025, according to police.
“The majority of these traffic fatalities are pedestrians versus a vehicle, and the majority of those pedestrians were illegally in the roadway when they were struck and killed,” Casto said. “Also, the majority of those pedestrians were either under the influence or intoxicated at the time that they were struck and killed.”
This story was originally published January 6, 2026 at 2:18 PM.
