Sacramento Sheriff Says California Still Missing the Mark on Crime

California’s homicide rates just hit a six-decade low—news that sounds like a win on the surface. But don’t tell Sacramento County Sheriff Jim Cooper to celebrate just yet. In a new episode of California Politics 360, Cooper pulled no punches when asked about the state’s public safety progress, delivering a blunt assessment:“Not enough, not enough.”

Here’s the disconnect: While Attorney General Rob Bonta is floating a five-year plan he believes could slash gun deaths by 30 to 50%, law enforcement leaders are raising their hands asking where the actual implementation is. Cooper, a former state assemblyman, pointed to a long list of stalled reforms—mental health diversion, elderly parole, and enforcement of Prop 36—that he says lawmakers are dragging their feet on despite public support. On Prop 36 alone, which aimed to toughen penalties on repeat thieves and drug dealers, 70% of California voters across all 58 counties backed it in 2024. Yet according to Cooper, not a single statewide official supported it.

The frustration isn’t abstract. Prop 36, which creates a new treatment-mandated felony, is technically being enforced by law enforcement—arrests are happening, people are going to jail—but without dedicated funding, the whole system is limping along. Cooper was candid: some folks are being arrested and held, but the treatment programs to actually help them don’t exist. The state budget included $375 million for Prop 36 implementation this year, but Cooper dismissed that as“a drop in the bucket”given how long the problems have festered.

What’s particularly stinging Cooper is the sense that elected leaders are out of step with their constituents. Voters demanded action, passed ballot measures with overwhelming margins, and lawmakers still dragged their feet—or worse, talked about watering down the law with amendments allowing theft to qualify for mental health diversion instead of consequences. It’s a pattern Cooper sees as betrayal of the democratic mandate. And while he acknowledges that homicide rates are down and some retailers have noticed a dip in theft since Prop 36 took effect, he’s adamant: lower homicide numbers don’t equal adequate crime strategy if the underlying infrastructure to support enforcement and treatment isn’t in place.

The takeaway? California’s headlines about falling crime rates might be premature. The real work—funding, accountability, and actually listening to what voters approved—is still waiting on the legislators’desk.