East Palo Alto finished 2025 without a single homicide, marking the second murder-free year in three years and reinforcing signs of a lasting departure from the violence that once defined the city.
After a historic year logging zero murders for the first time in 2023, one in 2024 and none again in 2025, local police officials said the trend affirms that the city’s efforts to reduce violence are working. In a New Year’s Day social media post, the East Palo Alto Police Department called the milestone a “powerful achievement” and a “testament to what is possible when a community stands together.”
“This achievement belongs to our residents, families, community organizations and first responders who are committed to keeping East Palo Alto a place where life is valued and protected,” the department wrote.
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“By creating opportunities for our youth, addressing the sources of violence and maintaining accountability, East Palo Alto is moving forward together,” he said.
In 2023, the city focused on tackling the root causes of crime rather than pursuing arrest quotas, Liu previously said. It also worked to raise officer salaries and improve staffing and retention within the department.
Former East Palo Alto Councilmember Lisa Gauthier, now a member of the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors, said her family has lived in East Palo Alto since 1967. She has seen the city change firsthand, long before it incorporated in 1983.
“It has a different feel right now, where people care and have opportunities,” Gauthier said. “It’s the result of everyone doing the right things and making sure we’re prioritizing what matters in the community.”
Gauthier said she is optimistic the progress will continue.
“I’m hopeful we can live in peace and harmony, and that people feel safe and comfortable where they live,” she said. “I hope the trend continues in the direction it’s going.”
The city’s earlier reputation as the nation’s “murder capital” stemmed not from the total number of killings, but from the rate relative to its small population — about 25,000 at the time — which made 42 homicides in 1992 the highest per-capita murder rate in the country. That spike, largely tied to the crack cocaine epidemic and gang violence, prompted state and federal intervention in the 1990s.
Since then, murders have fallen steadily.
Homicides dropped more than 60% from eight in 2013 to three in 2014 and have remained mostly in the single digits, with minor year-to-year fluctuations.
The city sits at the center of a stark divide: immense wealth generated by the tech industry surrounds a community shaped by mid-20th-century redlining, when East Palo Alto was one of the few places on the Peninsula where minorities and immigrants could buy property. Once one of the last affordable enclaves in Silicon Valley, the city now faces rising pressure as it is encircled by tech giants such as Meta and Google.
After the city recorded its first zero-murder year in 2023, former Mayor Antonio Lopez told this news organization that strong cooperation between local government and police was a key factor in the city’s success.
“It’s a testament to the power of community organizing and the investments we made at the council level,” Lopez said.
Much of that strategy continues today, with officials expressing confidence the city will not backslide into its violent past.
“The East Palo Alto community has long been unofficially labeled the most dangerous city on the Peninsula,” Liu said. “Our residents have worked hard to change that reputation for many years. Hopefully, finishing a second calendar year without a murder will finally help put that label behind us.”
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