Police Report Zero Murders Occurred In This SMC Town In 2025

EAST PALO ALTO, CA — There was not a single murder recorded in 2025 in the town of East Palo Alto after once being known as the murder capital of the U.S. decades ago, police announced on New Years Day.

"East Palo Alto has closed 2025 with zero murders, 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 East Palo Alto Police Department posted on social media.

The Peninsula community achieved its second year with zero murders in three years, having also reached this milestone in 2023, according to a report by CBS News.

The most recent homicide in East Palo Alto occurred in April 2024. Today, violent crime is much lower than in the early 1990s, when the city was known as the nation's "murder capital," CBS News reported.

In 1992, the city of 24,000 residents reported 42 homicides, the highest per capita rate in the U.S. that year. This reputation for high violent crime in the 1980s and 1990s was linked to struggles with revenue, the crack epidemic, and police issues, according to CBS News.

Over the last three decades, however, the community has seen a major transformation in leadership and policing. Furthermore, the area once known as "Whiskey Gulch" near University Avenue and Highway 101 has been extensively redeveloped to include a Four Seasons hotel and a large shopping center, CBS News reported.