Newsom Expands CHP Crime Units Across California Cities

California Governor Gavin Newsom announced an expansion of California Highway Patrol (CHP) deployments to major cities and regions statewide to enhance crime-fighting efforts in coordination with local officials. This initiative targets high-crime areas including Los Angeles, the Bay Area, Sacramento, San Diego, the Central Valley, and the Inland Empire, focusing on saturating these zones, targeting repeat offenders, and seizing weapons and narcotics. Newsom emphasized that this approach contrasts with President Trump's deployment of federal troops to cities like Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles without local collaboration, underscoring California's strategy of partnership with local communities to improve public safety. Despite a recent overall drop in crime across California, with San Francisco reporting a 27% decrease, Newsom stressed the need for continued efforts to further reduce violence. The expanded CHP role, traditionally focused on traffic enforcement, has evolved to address broader crime issues such as fentanyl trafficking and organized retail crime, with past deployments yielding significant arrests and seizures. Local officials, including Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, have welcomed the additional CHP support as a collaborative effort to sustain public safety progress.