California: Governor Newsom awards $107 million to prevent gun violence and improve community safety across state
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Feb 19, 2026

Governor Newsom awards $107 million to prevent gun violence and improve community safety across state

Stopping over 30,000 incidents of violence since 2019

What you need to know: Governor Newsom is announcing $107 million in violence prevention grants to 42 communities across California to prevent gun violence, bringing the state's total investment to more than $350 million since 2019.

SACRAMENTO – With the most recent data showing that violent crime is down 12% in California's major cities, Governor Gavin Newsom today announced that an additional $107 million is being awarded to communities to prevent gun violence and reduce crime. With 42 grants to cities, counties, community-based organizations, and tribal governments across California, this funding, known as the California Violence Intervention and Prevention (CalVIP) Grant Program, will support proven, community-driven strategies to reduce shootings, homicides, and retaliatory violence.

Public safety is as much about prevention as it is about enforcing the law. CalVIP invests in people and neighborhoods that have been disproportionately impacted by gun violence. We're supporting trusted community leaders who step in before a trigger is pulled — interrupting cycles of harm, saving lives, and creating real pathways to opportunity.

Governor Gavin Newsom

Enacted in 2019, the state's total investment for the CalVIP Program is more than $350 million, stopping more than 30,000 incidents of violence before they happened, as reported by grantees. In addition, these grants in total have helped more than 18,500 participants complete violence intervention programs.

This fifth round of funding that's being awarded supports programs that include trauma-informed intervention, credible messenger street outreach, wraparound services for families at risk, and intensive case management for youth and adults most impacted by violence.

Funding that matters

For the first time, CalVIP is largely funded through the Gun Violence Prevention and School Safety Act, using fees collected from firearm and ammunition retail sales — up to the first $75 million annually — to reinvest directly into the communities most affected by violence. This is the first cohort funded from the new funding source and the fifth cohort overall.

These efforts, which are administered by the Board of State and Community Corrections (BSCC), are not only reducing violence — they are strengthening families, stabilizing neighborhoods, and helping individuals build safer, more productive futures.

"CalVIP funding is helping communities most affected by violence achieve measurable progress," said BSCC Board Chair Linda Penner. "Many are experiencing reductions in violent crime, while individuals are being supported in ways that foster positive life outcomes and build stronger neighborhoods, schools, and families."

Proven results

CalVIP has helped communities achieve measurable results:
  • 18,679 participants successfully completed CalVIP-funded programs
  • 30,230 incidents of violence were interrupted
  • Thousands of individuals received job placement support, counseling, education services, and mentorship

The impact is measurable in reduced crime. Most recently, the Major Cities Chiefs Association put out its latest crime data, covering large cities in the US for all of 2025. Compared to 2024, violent crime across California cities was down 12%, with double-digit drops in homicide (18%) and robbery (19%).

Compared to 2019 (the last pre‑pandemic year), violent crime across the same large California city police departments tracked in the MCCA year‑end surveys is down about 12% in 2025 — driven by robberies down about 29% and homicides down about 12%.

Not every major jurisdiction is seeing California's same results: violent crime increased in Atlanta (+17%), with robbery up (+27%), and homicides rose in El Paso (+25%) and Omaha (+37%).

Local impact across California

Previous grantees are again being awarded CalVIP funding to continue making positive impacts in their communities.

Los Angeles: Homeboy Industries engaged individuals at the highest risk of gun violence through intensive, evidence-based case management and paid work-therapy. During the fourth round of grant funding, Homeboy Industries has demonstrated how dignity, stability, and opportunity can drive long-term public safety:
  • 582 successful program exits
  • 1,125 positive participant outcomes, including employment gains and reduced high-risk behavior

"CalVIP funding affirms what we have always known at Homeboy Industries: that dignity is the foundation of public safety. By investing in those most impacted by violence, we interrupt harm at its roots and have helped contribute to some of the lowest violent crime rates our region has seen in decades," said Homeboy Industries Co-CEOs Shirley Torres and Steve Delgado. "Through paid work-therapy, trauma-informed care, and leadership from people with lived experience, we create pathways to stability, belonging, and contribution to the over 10,000 people who walk through our doors each year. We are grateful for the leadership of Gavin Newsom and our State Legislators for proving that prevention works — and that compassion and accountability can move together."

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Stockton: The city's Office of Violence Prevention expanded its nationally recognized Operation Ceasefire model to youth ages 12–17 using CalVIP support. Stockton has directly served 568 high-risk youth and adults, strengthening focused deterrence, credible messenger outreach, and trauma-informed wraparound services. Stockton's efforts are improving the lives of its residents by empowering those who grew up around the gang culture to realize their potential and change their lives through the city's proactive Operation Ceasefire initiative.

"CalVIP funding is vital to sustaining and advancing Stockton's locally driven violence-prevention and gang-reduction efforts," said Stockton's Office of Violence Prevention Lora M. Larson. "With Cohort 5, we will build on this progress by increasing our reach and expanding school-based violence prevention, embedding violence prevention staff and support services directly on campuses to identify and intervene early with youth at elevated risk of victimization or involvement in violence."

Richmond: CalVIP funding has been integral to the success of the city's Office of Neighborhood Safety programs, including the Street Resource and Outreach strategic initiative. Through their Peacemaker Fellowship, Richmond has helped change the lives of many participants. In fact, an evaluation of Richmond's Cohort 3 grant indicated a variety of successful outcomes through its innovative program, including the development of prosocial behaviors in the 396 youth they served, including the furtherance of critical conflict resolution skills. And, as a Cohort 4 grantee, the city reported 86 successful program participants with 262 episodes of violence interrupted.

"The City of Richmond has been a recipient of CalVIP since 2007. This long-term investment from the state has been crucial in our city's strategy to reduce gun violence and related injuries and deaths," said Richmond's Office of Neighborhood Safety Deputy Director Sam Vaughn. "In 2007 the City of Richmond recorded 47 homicides and 242 shootings with a surviving victim. Last year we had 5 homicides and 32 shootings with a surviving victim. That was the lowest amount of homicides Richmond has seen since we started keeping records. Sustainable funding is critical to this work being successful and CalVIP's continued support and belief in the work being done in Richmond proves just that."

Bakersfield: Through partnerships with community-based organizations, the city of Bakersfield's Office of Violence Prevention has partnered with several community-based organizations and other agencies to positively impact their community through mentoring, gang intervention, outreach, mental health services, and other coordinated responses. An evaluation of their Cohort 3 grant highlighted their program's successful approach, and the impact was clear — the city, once plagued by some of the highest homicide rates in the state, reported a 57% drop in homicides and 60% fewer shootings in 2024.

"The CalVIP program has made Bakersfield a safer community. Through the work of prior grant awards, we saw a 70% reduction in shootings and homicides," said Bakersfield City Manager Christian Clegg. "With that foundation in place, this new cohort will not only allow our community partners to enhance this critical work but also allow our research partners to inform the field on best practices that correlate to both community-wide reductions and individual client outcomes. The CalVIP program is advancing best practices that can benefit all communities."

CalVIP was established in 2017 and strengthened by Assembly Bill 762 (2023). The program reflects California's public health approach to violence prevention — recognizing that lasting safety comes from addressing trauma, economic instability, and cycles of retaliation before they escalate.

A full list of award recipients is available here.

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Investing in California's public safety

While Republicans in Congress pushed their "big beautiful betrayal" bill, cutting funding to vital public safety programs, California demonstrated what real public safety looks like: serious investments, strong enforcement, and real results. California has invested $2.1 billion since 2019 to fight crime, help local governments hire more police, and improve public safety.

In 2024, Governor Newsom signed into law the most significant bipartisan legislation to crack down on property crime in modern California history. Building on the state's robust laws and record public safety funding, these bipartisan bills offer new tools to bolster ongoing efforts to hold criminals accountable for smash-and-grab robberies, property crime, retail theft, and auto burglaries. While California's crime rate remains at near-historic lows, these laws help the state adapt to evolving criminal tactics, ensuring that perpetrators are held accountable.

In 2023, as part of California's Public Safety Plan, the Governor announced the largest-ever investment to combat organized retail crime in state history, an annual 310% (https://mclist.us7.list-manage.com/track/click?u=afffa58af0d1d42fee9a20e55&id=ed8fb958e9&e=651f10180f) increase in proactive operations targeting organized retail crime, and special (https://mclist.us7.list-manage.com/track/click?u=afffa58af0d1d42fee9a20e55&id=15419f8cf4&e=651f10180f) operations (https://mclist.us7.list-manage.com/track/click?u=afffa58af0d1d42fee9a20e55&id=acccfab57b&e=651f10180f) across (https://mclist.us7.list-manage.com/track/click?u=afffa58af0d1d42fee9a20e55&id=33d640c3e9&e=651f10180f) the state to fight crime and improve public safety.

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