Rob AriasCrime reports in Emeryville continued their downward trajectory in the second quarter of 2025 according to data provided by the Emeryville Police Department. Crime reports are down 21% through the first half of 2025 and trending downward in more than half of the 13 categories that the EPD tracks.
After a post-pandemic peak in 2023, crimes reported began rapidly receding in 2024. July of 2023 saw a high of 235 combined violent and property crimes reported. In contrast, 2025 is seeing an average of about 133 combined reports per month or about 100 per month fewer.
Reasons for the declines in Emeryville and regionally are often attributed to the Governor’s Office initiated CHP Surge and Automatic License Plate Reader Technology better tracking and recovering stolen vehicles frequently used in crimes. Governor Newsom has also pushed to allow police pursuits of suspected criminals that has occasionally ended in tragedy.
It is likely too early to tell if the passing of Prop 36 is also having an impact on crime levels. Bay Area prosecutors have already charged 1200 repeat petty theft and drug use cases since the law was passed by voters last year.
Emeryville PD Chief Jeff Jennings also attributed having a fully staffed department allowing his force to continuously adapt to changing crime patterns. He also credited an overall shift in sentiment toward law enforcement that had plummeted in the wake of the 2020 murder of George Floyd.
Violent Crime Reports Down 19% YoY
Reports of violent crime are down across all categories with robberies (-50%) and Aggravated Assaults (-17%) seeing the steepest declines.
The only category that is up from last year is Simple Assaults (albeit nominally at +6%).
Property Crime Reports Down 21% YoY
The trajectory of property crime reports in Emeryville also dropped significantly from last year, down 21%.
Auto Burglaries, Commercial Burglaries and Grand Thefts all saw significant, double-digit declines.
The only property crime categories to see an increase from last year thus far are Petty Theft (+23%), Residential Burglaries (+78%) and Arson (up from a a single YTD incident to 2).
REPORTING DISTRICT BOUNDARIES
The EPD divides crime geography into 3 “beats” shown in the map above.
- BEAT 1 includes the Peninsula, Butchertown and Christie Core areas of the City west of Shellmound.
- BEAT 2 includes the Hollis Corridor, Greenway and portions of the Park Avenue District and the East Bay Bridge Shopping Center west of Hollis.
- BEAT 3 includes the Triangle and Star Intersection neighborhoods as well as portions of the Park Avenue District and East Bay Bridge Shopping Center east of Hollis
An archive of these monthly crime reports can be downloaded on the city website (provided as PDFs).
April 2025 Highlights
RESIDENTIAL BURGLARY – 6400 Christie Ave. April 1, 2025 – 03:14 a.m. (Beat 1):
Officers responded to the parking garage for a report of a subject casing vehicles and trying door handles. Stealth Monitoring advised the suspect arrived in a white Infiniti that was parked on the second level of the garage. Officers located the described suspect walking through the garage with an Aultel programmer and key fob. The suspect was detained. Officers located the Infiniti, and it tried to flee from the officers in the garage. Officers were able to detain the driver. Both subjects were booked at Berkeley City Jail (BCJ).
GRAND THEFT – Target, 1555 40th St. April 3, 2025, 9:01 p.m. (Beat 2):
An officer on directed patrol interrupted a pushout theft from the rear emergency exit door. The suspect fled and a brief foot pursuit ensued. The suspect was eventually taken into custody. A name check showed active warrants. The suspect was booked at Santa Rita Jail (SRJ) for theft, resisting arrest, and the warrants.
GUN ARREST / STOLEN VEHICLE RECOVERY – Pak N Save, 3889 San Pablo Ave (Parking lot). April 30, 2025 at 10:17 p.m. (Beat 3):
An officer located a vehicle via Flock alert with a stolen license plate affixed to it. The driver was detained after an additional stolen license plate was recovered from the vehicle. The driver had an empty holster for a pistol on his belt. A loaded pistol magazine was recovered from the floor of the vehicle. A further search revealed a pistol in the glove box of the vehicle along with narcotics packaged for sales. The driver was booked at Berkeley City Jail (BCJ).
May 2025 Highlights
ROBBERY – Its Sugar, 5624 Bay St. May 4, 2025, 8:07 p.m. (Beat 2):
The victim reported 12-13 suspects wearing Black ski masks robbed him of his clothes and bag. The victim reported that one of the suspects was armed with a gun, and they all fled on foot towards West Elm. A black Dodge was later seen fleeing the area. Officers checked the area and could not locate the suspects
COMMERCIAL BURGLARY – Los Moles, 1320 65th St. , May 5, 2025, 4:17 a.m. (Beat 2)
A resident in the area reported a burglary in-progress at the restaurant. A gray vehicle stopped in front of the restaurant with suspects breaking into business. The suspects fled the scene prior to the Officer’s arrival. The Officers cleared the restaurant and contacted an employee. The employee stated the cash registers were stolen and did not know the amount of loss stolen.
RESIDENTIAL BURGLARY – 43XX Adeline St., May 10, 2025, 9:14 p.m. (Beat 3)
The owner of the property reported discovering the front door locks damaged, and interrupted a subject inside using the shower. The suspect fled out of a broken window. Upon Officers arrival, they located a shattered window to the adjacent in-law unit with items scattered throughout the property. A Return call to the property, the owners reported seeing a trespasser enter their unoccupied rental unit via surveillance footage. Officers arrived and contacted the subject in the front gated yard who refused to follow commands. The Officers were unable to access the subject due to a tall modern style fence. The subject was holding a steak knife and had re-entered the property. Officers held a perimeter with assistance from OPD as EPD gave numerous K9 announcements with no response. EPD suspected the subject to be a male who was sometimes transient and known to be violent from Oakland’s jurisdiction. OPD sent their beat officer who has a rapport with the subject, attempt to establish communication with no response. The El Cerrito PD Drone team arrived and pinpointed the subject to a closed door. OPD and EPD attempted again to lure the subject out with negative results. Officers forced entry and discovered the subject was behind a glass shower, which shattered when they extracted the subject. The subject was holding a metal object in his hand while resisting arrest. The K9 was deployed to assist in the subject’s apprehension. During this process, an EPD Officer sustained a head injury and was transported to ACH.
June 2025 Highlights
ATTEMPTED ARSON: German International School, 1070 41st St. Jun 8, 2025, 6:05 p.m. (Beat 3)
Two juveniles, possibly with others, entered an unsecured classroom and created a mess. They scattered and burned napkins inside the classroom and emptied fire extinguishers, contaminating the classroom, which was set to be used for summer school. The children, who do not live in the area, cleaned up the mess as we waited for their parents. The school director wanted the boys arrested for the attempted arson. The Juveniles were cited and released to their parents.
COMMERCIAL BURGLARY – 76 Station, 1776 Powell St., June 9, 2025, 4:13 a.m. (Beat 1)
An employee reported that a vehicle rammed into the front of the building, allowing several masked suspects to enter the gas station. The employee locked himself in the bathroom while the suspects stole cigarettes and an unknown amount of cash from the ATM. After the theft, the suspects fled the scene in additional vehicles, leaving behind the suspect vehicle, a black Honda Civic, which appeared to be an unreported stolen vehicle out of Oakland. The fleeing vehicles were last seen heading toward the I-80 westbound on-ramp and reportedly used a smoke device to obscure their escape. The additional suspect vehicles were later detected by Flock cameras in Oakland. OPD was notified and reported similar burglaries in their jurisdiction. Dispatch contacted the registered owner of the Honda, who confirmed that the vehicle had been stolen from his residence.
GUN ARREST – Point Emery, June 19, 2025, 1:30 a.m. (Beat 1)
An officer made a suspicious vehicle check on a vehicle parked in the park after hours against the posted EMC section. A probable cause search of the juvenile who was ingesting marijuana revealed a loaded unregistered Glock pistol. The juvenile was cited and released to his parent with a notice to appear in Juvenile Court.
SHOPLIFTING, CONSPIRACY TO COMMIT CRIME, RESISTING ARREST, BATTERY ON A PEACE OFFICER – Target, 1555 40th St., June 21, 2025, 3:29 p.m. (Beat 2)
Loss Prevention reported that four female suspects stole merchandise and fled the scene. Officers located the individuals and attempted to detain them. One female suspect resisted and kicked officers, prompting the use of force to affect her arrest for battery on a peace officer. Two of the suspects were taken into custody without incident and transported to Berkeley City Jail (BCJ) and Santa Rita Jail (SRJ), respectively. The third arrested individual, a juvenile, was cited and released to her uncle at the request of her mother.
Hello, thanks so much for producing this for us. Question–what do the colors on the crime heat map represent? Especially, yellow verging on orange. Thank you.
That’s a good question. The “redder” the color, the more crimes reported in that area during this period. I should note that it’s unable to render the entire period so it might not be reflective of the entire quarter.
You can explore this map yourself here:
https://emeryville.citizenrims.com/map
Hello, What do the colors on the heat map represent (particularly–yellow verging into orange) Thank you