SAN DIEGO (CNS) — Mirroring a statewide trend, the number of auto thefts in the San Diego area last year dropped by more than one-fourth as compared with the 2024 figure, the California Highway Patrol reported Tuesday.
The tally of 8,023 stolen vehicles in San Diego County in 2025 was down 25.7% from the year before -- roughly the same percentage of decline as that seen across California over the same period, according to the CHP.
Statewide, about 133,000 vehicles were stolen last year, as compared with 176,230 over the prior 12 months, making 2025 a second consecutive year of declining automobile thefts in California, the Highway Patrol reported.
In 2024, Gov. Gavin Newsom deployed CHP officers to work alongside local law enforcement agencies in regional crime-suppression operations. Targeted details in Bakersfield, Oakland and San Bernardino helped contribute to reductions in vehicle thefts and other crime in those communities and culminated in California's first year-over-year decrease in vehicle theft since 2019, according to state officials.
Newsom expanded the program in August 2025 by deploying additional teams to other parts of California, including San Diego County.
On average, a vehicle theft occurred in California every four minutes in 2025, according to the Highway Patrol. Of the 133,372 autos stolen statewide last year, 84% were recovered -- a total of 111,661 vehicles. More than half were returned to their owners in drivable condition, the state agency reported.
"The CHP remains committed to holding offenders accountable, recovering stolen vehicles and working with our law enforcement partners to make our communities safer," CHP Commissioner Sean Duryee said.
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