injury and violence prevention (ivp) branch

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Homicide Trends in California 2020 – Data Brief

A new data brief on trends in homicide since the onset of the pandemic.

California Firearms Injury Dashboard

Public data dashboard on hospitalizations, Emergency Department visits, and deaths in California associated with different types of violence.

Adverse and Positive Childhood Experiences Data Report: Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BFRSS), 2015-2021

Data report on both adverse and positive childhood experiences of California young people, and the implications for behavioral health and violence.

California Death Reporting System (CalVDRS)

A comprehensive view on all violent deaths in California is now possible with this critical data system collecting the cause of death in California counties.

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The Violence Prevention Initiative

The Violence Prevention Initiative (VPI) aims to reduce violence and create safer and healthier communities for all Californians.

The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) is committed to exploring innovative approaches to prevent multiple forms of violence and address this complex issue through research-informed public health approaches. CDPH established the VPI to elevate violence as a departmental priority, and to integrate and align efforts across multiple CDPH programs.

The VPI is a CDPH cross-program collaborative designed to leverage the expertise and resources of multiple centers and offices to address violence comprehensively:

The Center for Healthy Communities, Injury and Violence Prevention Branch brings specialized knowledge and data in injury and violence prevention strategies.
The Office of Policy and Planning ensures that evidence-based policies shape the initiative's direction.
The Office of Health Equity (OHE) focuses on reducing disparities that contribute to violence, particularly in historically “underserved, unserved, and inappropriately served" communities.
The Center for Family Health's Maternal, Child, and Adolescent Health (MCAH) Division offers targeted interventions for families in need, ensuring that prevention efforts address violence at critical stages of life.

Finally, the CDPH Director's Office plays a leadership role, coordinating and aligning efforts across the department to maximize impact. Together, these offices serve as the VPI Steering Committee and ensure a holistic, equity-centered approach to violence prevention that addresses root causes and promotes healthier communities.

What is a Public Health Approach to Violence Prevention?

Prevention in public health is not just thinking about how to respond when violence happens—public health is focused on stopping violence before it starts by tackling the root causes and risk factors that lead to violence in the first place at the community level. While other health professionals provide critical services and referrals to individuals and focus on intervention, the role of public health is to improve the conditions in which all people live, work, and play, so that the likelihood of violence is reduced for everyone in the community. For more detail on the public health approach, view Public Health's Approach to Violence Prevention.

What the Data^¹Says

In 2022, homicide and suicide killed nearly twice as many people as unintentional motor vehicle crashes, claiming the lives of more than 6,500 Californians.² In 2020, there was a 31% increase in the number of homicide deaths in California, reversing the trend of decreasing rates.² In 2021, homicide rates were at the highest point in over a decade.¹ In 2022, the homicide rate decreased, but remained above 2019 levels.¹

Between 2019 and 2020, suicide rates in California declined; however, suicide rates increased from 2020 to 2022.¹ The impact of violence is not felt equally across communities, with men and Black people dying by homicide at a rate five times higher than their counterparts3 Beyond the harm to individuals, the ripple effects of these violent events spread throughout communities, resulting in declines in mental health, lower socioeconomic status, fragmented familial and social cohesion, and conditions where people are afraid to use public spaces and enjoy their communities.⁴

CDPH's work:

While all forms of violence share many of the same risk and protective factors, different populations are more disproportionately at risk of experiencing different forms of violence, which requires a tailored prevention approach. CDPH implements a variety of programs that address the root causes of violence, recognizing the interconnectedness of different forms of violence and their shared risk and protective factors. These initiatives address violence prevention holistically, spanning the lifespan and focusing on specific populations to foster healthier, safer communities across California. Examples of these programs include: