LOS ANGELES (AP) — Data collected from 30 American cities showed an 18% decrease in the homicide rate from 2025 compared to the same period in 2026, translating to about 215 fewer homicides this year, according to a new report from the independent Council on Criminal Justice.
Should the trend continue, it would push the annual homicide rate to the lowest levels in over a century once final numbers are released at the end of the year.
The report, released Thursday, tracked 13 crimes and recorded drops in nine of those categories, including carjackings, residential burglary and aggravated assaults. There was a small jump in shoplifting, domestic violence incidents, sexual assaults and drug offenses over the same period between 2025 and 2026, the report showed.
Experts say the broadly positive changes are exceeding expectations, improving on baseline crime rates from before 2020 and the COVID-19 pandemic, which brought historic surges in violence.
Democrats and Republicans across the country have tried to capitalize on the positive developments during a competitive midterm election year. But the trends documented in the report carry through in cities with leadership across the political spectrum.
That suggests the most significant factors contributing to the improvements are taking place nationwide and are not specific to a single local public safety measure, said Adam Gelb, the president and CEO of the Council on Criminal Justice, a nonpartisan think tank for criminal justice policy and research.
“Murder and other crime rates are falling across the map in cities with different political leadership, different housing and economic conditions, different policing and prosecution and violence reduction strategies and different levels of federal enforcement activity,” Gelb said.
The council collects data from police departments and other law enforcement sources. Some of the report categories include data from as many as 36 cities, while others include fewer cities in their totals because of tracking gaps or differences in definitions for specific crimes.
Notably, Gelb said that a significant number of violent crimes were less deadly: There was a 23% drop in the lethality of the crimes committed, which is measured by the share of serious violent crime that is fatal.
Many of the non-violent crimes tracked in the report also saw declines, including a 13% drop in residential burglaries year over year and a 50% drop in burglaries compared to pre-pandemic levels in 2019. At the same time, reported shoplifting bucked the trends of other property crimes, showing a 5% increase. And while there was a small increase in drug offenses, those were still lower than pre-pandemic levels.
Roughly a third of the 30 sampled cities defied average homicide rate declines across the country, recording an increase in deadly violence from the first half of 2025 to the same period in 2026. That includes Norfolk, Virginia, which saw a 64% increase in homicides, and San Francisco, which saw a 55% increase. The number of cities that saw a longer-term increase was far smaller: Only Norfolk, Austin, Pittsburgh and Minneapolis experienced more homicides in 2026 than in the same period in 2019.
There are many factors that could impact why a location sees increases or decreases in certain crimes when another doesn't, according to John Roman, director of the Center on Public Safety and Justice at the National Opinion Research Center from the University of Chicago.
Roman said that conservative politicians affiliated with President Donald Trump will point to intensified immigration crackdowns and the deployment of the National Guard in cities like Los Angeles and Memphis, whereas liberal politicians might point to former Democratic President Joe Biden's public safety legislation that strengthened background checks on firearm sales.
But ultimately, Roman said, the best explanations transcend specific administrations. That ranges from decreased drug usage and therefore fewer purchases from illegal markets, which are often linked to violence, to an influx of federal funding for localities after the pandemic that was spent on social programming.
Those programs, Roman said, often funded jobs like teachers and social workers who primarily work with “young people who are the highest risk of violence and victimization.”
While both Gelb and Roman concurred that there wasn't a single reason, Gelb said the outcomes should be studied for future insights and celebrated.
“This is one of the most significant public safety developments in decades. It means lives are being saved, families are spared trauma and communities are regaining stability,” Gelb said.
FILE - The west facade of the Supreme Court Building bears the motto "Equal Justice Under Law" on March 20, 2019, in Washington. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)
SAN CARLOS, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jul 23, 2026--
BeOne Medicines, Ltd. (Nasdaq: ONC; HKEX: 06160; SSE: 688235), a global oncology company, today announced a $300 million expansion of its flagship clinical and commercial-stage manufacturing and research and development center at the Princeton West Innovation Campus in Hopewell, New Jersey, bringing total U.S. manufacturing investment to more than $1 billion. The expansion will increase BeOne's production capacity to manufacture its medicines and is expected to create approximately 120 new full-time jobs. The investment supports the continued advancement of BeOne's deep oncology pipeline of more than 35 clinical and commercial-stage assets.
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Aaron Rosenberg, Chief Financial Officer, BeOne Medicines, said:
“Today's announcement reflects BeOne's commitment to strengthening U.S. manufacturing and expanding access to innovative medicines for patients with cancer. We appreciate the federal tax policies advanced by the President that encourage investment in biopharmaceutical production, alongside the Next New Jersey Manufacturing Program and the Governor’s efforts to support advanced manufacturing and high-quality job creation. Together, these efforts create an environment for long-term growth, and we are proud to continue expanding our global footprint in support of patients.”
Expanding manufacturing capacity
With this expansion, BeOne's Princeton West Innovation Campus will become a fully integrated, multi-platform manufacturing site, combining existing biologics production with new small molecule drug product capabilities under one roof. The expansion involves construction of a new three-story, 145,000-square-foot building adjacent to BeOne's existing Hopewell facilities, bringing the total campus footprint to approximately 545,000 square feet. The new building will house drug product manufacturing and packaging operations that strengthen BeOne's production and supply chain capabilities to support its growing hematology portfolio and pipeline, alongside quality control laboratories, office space, and capacity reserved for future growth. The expanded site will also provide additional flexibility to support strategic collaborations with partners and advance BeOne's global development superhighway.
Expansion highlights include:
BeOne's Princeton West Innovation Campus
Opened in July 2024 following an initial investment of $800 million, the latest $300 million expansion brings total investment at the Princeton West Innovation Campus to more than $1 billion. As BeOne's flagship U.S. manufacturing and clinical R&D hub, the campus also supports clinical and commercial-stage biologics manufacturing for the Company's solid tumor portfolio. The 42-acre site features more than 1 million square feet of developable real estate for future growth.
Accelerating BeOne's global development superhighway
The U.S. expansion strengthens BeOne’s global development superhighway, the company’s fully internal platform of clinical, regulatory, and manufacturing capabilities. This strategically advantaged model combines one of the industry’s largest oncology research teams with nearly 6,000 clinical development and manufacturing colleagues, helping reduce the cost and time required to develop new medicines for cancer patients around the world. The added capacity will support pipeline programs across multiple blood cancers, as well as breast, gynecologic, lung, liver, gastrointestinal, and other tumor types. These programs span multiple innovative modalities, including small molecules, biologics, targeted protein degraders, multispecific antibodies, and antibody drug conjugates.
BeOne in the United States
BeOne is domiciled in Switzerland and employs over 12,000 colleagues across six continents, including more than 2,000 in the U.S. In 2025, BeOne generated nearly $2 billion in direct U.S. economic impact and invested approximately $1 billion in U.S. R&D. The company is conducting 93 clinical trials across 45 states and one territory at approximately 1,100 clinical trial sites, supported by more than 650 investigators. BeOne Medicines has delivered its life-changing cancer therapies to more than 2 million patients globally.
About BeOne
BeOne Medicines is a global oncology company that is discovering and developing innovative treatments for cancer patients worldwide. With a portfolio spanning hematology and solid tumors, BeOne is expediting development of its diverse pipeline of novel therapeutics through its internal capabilities and collaborations. The company has a growing global team spanning six continents who are driven by scientific excellence and exceptional speed to reach more patients than ever before. To learn more about BeOne, please visit www.beonemedicines.com and follow us on LinkedIn, X, Facebook and Instagram.
Forward-Looking Statement
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and other federal securities laws, including statements regarding the potential effects of BeOne’s expansion of its flagship manufacturing facility in Hopewell, New Jersey; the increase of BeOne’s production capacity to manufacture its medicines in the U.S.; the continued advancement of BeOne’s deep oncology pipeline; the additional flexibility to support BeOne’s strategic collaborations with partners and advance BeOne’s global development superhighway; and BeOne’s plans, commitments, aspirations, and goals under the heading “About BeOne.” Actual results may differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements as a result of various important factors, including BeOne’s ability to demonstrate the efficacy and safety of its drug candidates; the clinical results for its drug candidates, which may not support further development or marketing approval; actions of regulatory agencies, which may affect the initiation, timing, and progress of clinical trials and marketing approval; BeOne’s ability to achieve commercial success for its marketed medicines and drug candidates, if approved; BeOne’s ability to obtain and maintain protection of intellectual property for its medicines and technology; BeOne’s reliance on third parties to conduct drug development, manufacturing, commercialization, and other services; BeOne’s limited experience in obtaining regulatory approvals and commercializing pharmaceutical products and its ability to obtain additional funding for operations and to complete the development of its drug candidates and achieve and maintain profitability; and those risks more fully discussed in the section entitled “Risk Factors” in BeOne’s most recent quarterly report on Form 10-Q, as well as discussions of potential risks, uncertainties, and other important factors in BeOne’s subsequent filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. All information in this press release is as of the date of this press release, and BeOne undertakes no duty to update such information unless required by law.
To access BeOne media resources, please visit our Newsroom.
BeOne Medicines' biologics manufacturing facility and clinical R&D center of excellence at the Princeton West Innovation Campus in Hopewell, NJ.
