Oakland, California – One year into Governor Gavin Newsom’s high-profile California Highway Patrol (CHP) surge operation targeting violent crime and property theft in the Bay Area, the state has released new data touting major gains — including the recovery of 3,217 stolen vehicles, 1,823 arrests, and the seizure of 170 illegal firearms.
The effort, focused heavily in Oakland and nearby communities, has been a centerpiece of Newsom’s strategy to respond to rising crime in the region. So far in 2025 alone, CHP officers have made 398 arrests, recovered 614 stolen vehicles, and seized 30 firearms.
“Month after month, officers have worked hand-in-hand with their local counterparts across the Bay Area to protect our communities from bad actors,” Newsom said in a Thursday statement.
To bolster enforcement, Newsom’s administration ramped up CHP officer shifts in July 2024 and installed 480 surveillance cameras — including 190 on state highways and 290 throughout Oakland. The high-tech network has provided real-time crime alerts and vehicle tracking, according to the governor’s office.
Still, questions linger about the long-term impact of the surge. In February 2024, Newsom announced additional resources for Alameda County and later introduced a controversial plan to allow California National Guard attorneys to prosecute crimes — after a deal to provide more prosecutors through then-District Attorney Pamela Price’s office failed.
Price, who was later recalled by voters, claimed she was never contacted by Newsom directly and criticized the surge for yielding few cases for her office to prosecute.
It remains unclear how many arrests have led to prosecutions or whether future CHP deployments will depend on Oakland’s potential policy shift to loosen restrictions on police pursuits — a move the city’s police chief and commission are currently weighing.
