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Reported crime figures in San Jose continued to decline in 2025, according to the FBI’s Uniform Crime Report. Last year’s drop in violent crimes has accelerated a downward trend that began in 2024 after such crimes peaked the previous year. Violent crime last year fell 15% compared to 2024, while property crime dropped 7%, the figures show. These declines held across nearly all major crime categories, including aggravated assault, rape, robbery, theft, burglary and motor vehicle theft. “San Jose remains the safest big city in the country,” Mayor Matt Mahan told San Jose Spotlight. “These (crime reductions) reflect our investments in smart, tech-enabled policing and the creation of our Neighborhood Quality of Life unit to address the issues residents experience every day.” Mahan is referring to a new police unit he proposed last spring tasked with policing large homeless encampments. It’s part of his broader effort to stiffen penalties for homeless people who refuse offers of shelter. The 4,963 violent crimes reported in San Jose last year makes 2025 the second year in a row to see declines, after such crimes peaked in 2023 at 6,046. That’s the highest number of violent crimes the city has seen since the crime surge of the mid-90s. Prior to 2024, violent crime had been gradually increasing in San Jose for over a decade, and despite the recent improvements, the 2025 figure still remains well above the historic average for the past 20 years. Long-term property crime trends have been more stable in San Jose over the past decade. However, the 2025 property crime total for the city, 23,222, marks the lowest figure it has seen over that time period except for 2021, when COVID lockdown orders significantly disrupted typical crime patterns. Some crime categories dropped more than others. Over the past 12 months, the San Jose Police Department recorded 26 homicides, the same as 2024. That means the past two years have tied for the lowest homicide level in the city in at least 10 years. Among violent crimes, rape saw the most dramatic drop in 2025 with a 27% reduction. Incidence of the crime had been trending upward for more than a decade. Meanwhile, motor vehicle thefts saw a 17% decline, continuing years of improvements after such crimes peaked in 2017. Police officials also credit the drop in crime to new tools, including SJPD’s expanded use of automated license plate recognition and the addition of new software systems to the city’s Real-Time Intelligence Center. The facility allows technical experts to review crime scene data in real-time. “What we are seeing is not accidental, and it’s not luck,” a police department spokesperson told San Jose Spotlight. San Jose is facing a lawsuit over its use of license plate readers from a coalition of local advocacy and civil rights groups. They allege the city’s network of surveillance cameras allows police to track the movements of motorists without a warrant. San Jose’s declining crime figures fall in line with national crime trends that have seen major cities throughout the country notch significant improvements in recent years. In fact, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Dallas, Texas all saw their crime figures decline by even larger percentages than San Jose, according to an analysis conducted by the San Francisco Chronicle. San Jose won plaudits last year for its handling of public safety issues. A report by financial tech company SmartAsset named it the safest major U.S. city in the country, after comparing various safety metrics such as violent crime and the rate of traffic fatalities. Still, a number of challenges remain. SJPD faces a longstanding staffing shortage, made even more difficult to resolve by the city’s growing budget deficit. And high-profile crimes continue to grab headlines in the city, such as the Black Friday shooting at Valley Fair mall that left three injured. Greg Woods, a…

Stocks slumped on Wall Street Tuesday after President Donald Trump threatened to hit eight European countries with new tariffs as tensions escalate over his attempts to assert American control over Greenland. The losses were widespread, with nearly every sector losing ground. Major indexes in the U.S. extended losses from last week in what has been a wobbly start to the year. The S&P 500 fell 143.15 points, or 2.1%, to 6,796.86. It is the steepest drop for the benchmark index since October. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 870.74 points, or 1.8%, to 48,488.59. The Nasdaq composite fell 561.07 points, or 2.4%, to 22,954.32. Technology stocks were the heaviest weights on the market. Nvidia, one of the most valuable companies in the world, plunged 4.4%. Apple fell 3.5%. Retailers, banks and industrial companies also fell sharply. Lowe’s fell 3.3%, JPMorgan Chase fell 3.1%, and Caterpillar lost 2.5%. European markets and markets in Asia fell. Long-term bond yields in Japan rose to record levels on concerns over the government’s fiscal policy, adding to anxiety in global markets. Trump’s trade policy has roiled markets since the start of his second term. Stocks have sold off on the threat of steep tariffs, then rallied when Trump delays or cancels a tariff, or negotiates a lower rate. Trump said Saturday that he would charge a 10% import tax starting in February on goods from Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Finland. The annual combined imports from European Union nations are greater than those from the top two biggest individual importers into the U.S., Mexico and China. Gold prices surged 3.7% and silver prices soared 6.9%. Such assets are often considered safe havens in times of geopolitical turmoil. The trade tensions apparently short-circuited a recent rally in bitcoin. The cryptocurrency rose above $96,000 late last week but has dropped back to around $89,700. Treasury yields were mixed in the bond market. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.29% from 4.23% late Friday. The yield on the two-year Treasury held steady at 3.60% from late Friday. Companies that focus on consumer staples held up better than most of the market. Colgate-Palmolive rose 1.1% and Campbell’s rose 1.5%. The price of U.S. crude oil rose 1.5% to $60.34 per barrel. The price of Brent crude, the international standard, rose 1.5% to $64.92. Trump linked his aggressive stance on Greenland to last year’s decision not to award him the Nobel Peace Prize, telling Norway’s prime minister that he no longer felt “an obligation to think purely of Peace,” in a text message released Monday. Trump’s message to Jonas Gahr Støre appeared to ratchet up a standoff between Washington and its closest allies over his threats to take over Greenland, a self-governing territory of NATO member Denmark. Trump’s threats have sparked outrage and a flurry of diplomatic activity across Europe, as leaders consider possible countermeasures, including retaliatory tariffs and the first-ever use of the European Union’s anti-coercion instrument. The trade and political conflict with Europe is heating up just as world leaders meet at the World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland this week. Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives said the new tariff threat “is clearly an overhang on the conference,” but that it would likely simmer over time. “Our view is just like over the last year the bark will be worse than the bite on this issue and tariff threats as negotiations take place and tensions ultimately calm down between Trump and EU leaders,” Ives wrote in a note to clients. Tariffs threaten to boost inflation, although so far the increases have been less than many experts feared. Still, the threat of tariffs reigniting already high inflation could further complicate the Federal Reserve’s job. The central bank cut its benchmark interest rate three times late in 2025 to help bolster the economy as the job market weakened.…

On the one-year anniversary of President Donald Trump being sworn into office for the second time, California Gov. Gavin Newsom, one of the fiercest and most public critics, escalated rhetoric Tuesday against the president while admonishing European leaders. Newsom, a Democratic presidential contender, urged the leaders of European nations to “wake up” while slamming them for “rolling over” to Trump while attending the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.  “This b——- diplomacy of sort of niceties, somehow we’re all going to figure it out, saying one thing privately and saying another publicly. Have some spine,” Newsom fired off.  The ferocious comment came hours after President Trump took to social media to share a screenshot of text messages from French President Emmanuel Macron, who called Trump his “friend” in an appeasing tone.  California Sep 9, 2025 Newsom says Trump has a ‘relentless, unhinged' obsession with California The California governor has been intensifying his criticism against the president on a wide range of issues, including foreign policy and immigration. Earlier this month, Newsom released a statement, calling Trump “brainless” for withdrawing from the United Nations climate framework and surrendering global leadership.  As Newsom likened the president to an apex predator, the governor also had a warning message for Europe: traditional diplomacy won’t work with Trump. “(Trump) is T. rex: You mate with him or he devours you. One or the other, and you need to stand up to it,” he said. “Europeans should decide for themselves what to do, but one thing they can’t do is what they have been doing. And they have been played. This guy has been playing folks for fools.” The California governor, who has been selling red knee pads for “all your groveling to Trump needs” on the website of his political action committee Campaign for Democracy, upped the ante by saying he should have brought the knee pads to Davos and hand them out to the European leaders. “I can’t take this complicity – people rolling over,” he said. The California governor also took a jab at the latest Nobel Peace Prize winner, Maria Machado, who handed her award to Trump following the arrest of former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.  “Nobel prizes that are being given away. It’s just pathetic,” he said. “And I hope people understand how pathetic they look on the world stage.” Newsom was in Davos to pitch California as a stable zero-emission vehicle market, touting 2.5 million EV sales, according to the governor’s office.  During Trump’s news conference to mark his one-year anniversary since inauguration, the president mentioned the California governor twice, calling him “awful. “California is a failed state,” Trump said. “If Newsom was president, this country would be like Venezuela.” Pres. Trump was scheduled to travel to Davos later on Tuesday for the World Economic Forum where he will meet with other NATO leaders.

In Oakland, some residents displaced by a massive fire say their landlord is now adding insult to injury. That fire gutted a downtown apartment building on Broadway this week, and now some say they’re being told their leases have been terminated. Those residents are now scrambling to find housing and legal help. Residents were allowed back in Tuesday for just a few moments to grab essentials. Many of them say they lost nearly everything. “I started to smell smoke. So, in my unit, there’s no and there’s no sprinkler system,” said Saron Hanson, a displaced resident. Hanson lives directly underneath the second-floor apartment where Monday’s fire started. By the time he realized what was happening, his bedroom was already engulfed in flames. He got out safely but lost everything. “I could cry right now because, I mean, just emotionally tied to this street, to the building. The store is not there anymore. Truthfully, it’s a lot for me being that this was my first real apartment of my own,” said Hanson. Hanson is the cousin of rapper Mistah Fab, whose store was also damaged in the fire. This is what is left of Hanson’s apartment. Now, he’s hoping a newly posted GoFundMe page can help him find another place to call home and start rebuilding. “Hoping that a blessing and a prayer just comes out of the sky really,” said Hanson. Another resident says their unit’s sprinklers never activated. Oakland Fire says 20 people — including a baby — had to be rescued. The city of Oakland has opened a 24-hour temporary shelter at the Willie Keyes Recreation Center and is providing outreach and relocation support. John Gulino is among those now staying at the shelter. “Just taking it one day at a time,” said Gulino. But now, residents say they’re facing another shock. They say they were notified via email that their leases have been immediately terminated. Some believe the move is illegal and are seeking legal help. The city is also weighing in, urging tenants not to sign any documents related to the fire without first consulting a lawyer. “I don’t agree with that. I’m not ready to sign anything until I talk with a lawyer,” said Gulino. The same apartment building was the scene of a much smaller fire in 2024. The building is owned by Ted Dang of Commonwealth Real Estate. He did not respond to our request for comment. The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

One person died and another was injured in a crash in the westbound direction of the San Mateo Bridge Tuesday afternoon, the California Highway Patrol said. The crash, which happened midspan at about 2:45 p.m., and subsequent investigation forced the CHP to shut down all westbound lanes of the bridge. It wasn’t immediately known when lanes would reopen. Two vehicles, a van and a sedan, were involved in the crash, the CHP said. The driver in one of the vehicles died at the scene. A passenger in the other vehicle was taken to a local hospital. Their condition wasn’t immediately known. This is a developing story. Details may change as more information becomes available. Stay tuned for updates. ***TRAFFIC ADVISORY*** WB SR-92, AT MIDSPAN. ALL LANES BLOCKED DUE TO A CRASH. UNKNOWN ETO. EXPECT DELAYS. pic.twitter.com/G2kbjwNftq— CHP Redwood City (@CHP_RedwoodCity) January 20, 2026