By Dean Maddox, Public Safety & Crime Reporter

In California, public confidence in safety has been slipping. Data from the state’s Department of Public Health shows the percentage of residents who feel safe in their neighborhoods has dropped from over 50 percent in 2018 to just 38 percent today. Latino, African American, and Asian Californians report feeling the least safe.

At the same time, high-profile retail theft and repeat-offender crime have become familiar sights in many cities, contributing to a growing sense that enforcement has softened and consequences have become less certain.

El Salvador offers a sharply different example.

For years, the Central American country was not just dangerous, but one of the most violent places on Earth. By 2015, its murder rate had climbed to over 100 per 100,000 people. That is not typical crime. It is the level of violence seen in active conflict zones. Entire neighborhoods were controlled by gangs. Extortion was routine. Daily life carried constant risk.

Then something changed.

Starting in 2022, the Salvadoran government under President Nayib Bukele launched an aggressive crackdown on gangs, moving quickly to remove large numbers of suspected members and repeat offenders from the streets.

More than 70,000 people were arrested in a country of about 6.5 million. The impact was immediate.

Homicides did not gradually decline. They dropped sharply. From thousands of killings per year, El Salvador recorded fewer than 200 murders in 2023. The national murder rate has fallen to roughly 2 to 3 per 100,000, now lower than many major cities in the United States.

Other forms of crime followed a similar trajectory. Extortion, once a daily burden on businesses and working families, has decreased significantly. Areas previously dominated by gangs have reopened. Public approval of the government’s security policies remains high, reflecting visible changes in everyday life.

There are ongoing debates about how the crackdown was carried out. Civil liberties groups have raised concerns about due process and the scale of arrests. Those concerns remain part of the broader discussion.

But one point is not seriously disputed. Violence declined dramatically.

In California, policies advanced under Governor Gavin Newsom and state lawmakers have emphasized long-term prevention strategies, sentencing reform, and decarceration. These approaches aim to address underlying conditions over time.

The results, at least in terms of public safety, are difficult to ignore.

In one place, a majority of residents report feeling less safe than they did just a few years ago.

In another, a country once defined by violence has seen that violence fall to historically low levels in a short period of time.

That contrast stands on its own.

Featured image: El Salvador President Nayib Bukele; Casa Presidencial El Salvador (CC0 1.0 Public Domain)