Sausalito crime by year: the state's official counts
Every California police agency reports offenses to the state Department of Justice, which publishes them on OpenJustice. The table shows the Sausalito Police Department's counts from the DOJ's Crimes and Clearances file covering 1985 to 2025, published in July 2026 and the latest edition as of November 2026. Violent crime here means homicide, rape, robbery and aggravated assault; property crime means burglary, motor vehicle theft and larceny-theft.
| Year | Violent crimes | Property crimes |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 4 | 247 |
| 2017 | 14 | 231 |
| 2018 | 9 | 201 |
| 2019 | 7 | 258 |
| 2020 | 5 | 239 |
| 2021 | 12 | 295 |
| 2022 | 8 | 197 |
| 2023 | 7 | 128 |
| 2024 | 5 | 121 |
| 2025 | 4 | 122 |
Two patterns stand out. Violent crime has stayed in single or low double digits every year, between 4 and 14. Property crime ran between about 200 and 300 a year until 2022, then fell to 128 in 2023, 121 in 2024 and 122 in 2025. Most of that drop was larceny-theft, which went from 147 in 2022 to 87 in 2023. With counts this small, a handful of incidents moves the line, so read the trend over several years rather than one.
How Sausalito compares with Marin County and California
Rates per 100,000 residents put places of different size on one scale. These use 2025 DOJ counts and Census 2020-2024 population estimates. County and state figures add up every reporting agency, including the Sheriff, the CHP and campus police.
| Area (2025) | Population | Violent crimes | Violent per 100,000 | Property crimes | Property per 100,000 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sausalito Police Department | 7,141 | 4 | 56 | 122 | 1,708 |
| Mill Valley Police Department | 14,012 | 7 | 50 | 109 | 778 |
| All agencies in Marin County | 257,969 | 462 | 179 | 3,116 | 1,208 |
| All agencies in California | 39,287,377 | 170,397 | 434 | 705,925 | 1,797 |
Sausalito's violent rate is about an eighth of the state's and below the Marin County figure, though slightly above Mill Valley's. Its property rate is just below the state's but above the county's and more than twice Mill Valley's. The likely reason is visitors: the city's General Plan describes downtown as an iconic destination that draws large numbers of day visitors, and crimes against visitors' cars and belongings are counted where they happen while the visitors are not counted in the population. A per-resident rate in a small tourist town will always look higher than the risk a resident carries.
What crime in Sausalito actually consists of
Thefts from cars in Sausalito
In 2025, 52 of Sausalito's 106 larceny-thefts reported to the DOJ were thefts from motor vehicles, and another 6 were thefts of vehicle parts. Bicycle thefts added 12. Shoplifting was 6 and pickpocketing 1. So about half of all theft in the city is someone breaking into or taking from a parked car, which matches a town where visitors park along Bridgeway and in the downtown lots.
Burglary and vehicle theft in Sausalito
The DOJ file shows 12 burglaries in 2025, 6 of them residential and 6 non-residential, and 4 motor vehicle thefts. The department's own year-end report, which uses slightly different categories, shows residential burglaries falling from 21 in 2021 to 8 in 2025 and stolen vehicles from 24 to 7 over the same years.
The police department's 2025 and 2026 counts
Sausalito police report crime and traffic figures to the City Council every quarter. The 2025 year-end report, presented January 20, 2026, lists 38 auto burglaries, 22 grand thefts, 42 petty thefts, 47 fraud, identity theft or embezzlement cases, 11 assault and battery cases and 13 domestic violence cases. Officers answered 9,589 calls for service and made 89 arrests. The second-quarter 2026 report, presented September 15, 2026, shows 22 auto burglaries in the first half of 2026 against 16 a year earlier, 18 grand thefts against 11, and 1 residential burglary against 2.
Clearance rates in Sausalito
A clearance means police closed an offense, usually by arrest. In 2025 Sausalito police cleared 1 of 4 violent crimes and 7 of 122 property crimes, about 6%, according to the DOJ file. Across California the same file shows about 46% of violent and 11% of property crimes cleared. Low property clearance is common where most thefts are car break-ins with no witness, which is one more reason to keep nothing visible in a parked car.
Why this page does not rank Sausalito neighborhoods
No official dataset reports crime by neighborhood for Sausalito. The DOJ and FBI publish counts for the whole department, and the department's quarterly reports are citywide. Any site that ranks Sausalito's Old Town, New Town or Nevada Street Valley by safety is estimating from a model, not reporting police data, so we do not do it.
Addresses in 94965 that are outside the city
The Sausalito Police Department covers only the incorporated city. Marin City is a separate unincorporated community, and the Marin County Sheriff's Southern Substation patrols Marin City, Muir Beach and The Gates Co-op, among other areas. A home with a Sausalito, CA 94965 mailing address can therefore sit in the Sheriff's area, and its crime counts are in the Sheriff's countywide figures, not Sausalito's. The Sheriff reported 79 violent and 359 property crimes in 2025 across all the unincorporated areas it serves. Our Sausalito ZIP code page explains what 94965 covers.
How to check crime near a Sausalito address
California DOJ OpenJustice for Sausalito
OpenJustice publishes the Crimes and Clearances file used above, plus arrest and other data by agency. Filter the file to the Sausalito agency, or to Marin County Sheriff's Department for an unincorporated address, and compare years.
FBI Crime Data Explorer
The FBI's Crime Data Explorer shows the same agency's reports in the national system, with offense detail by year. It is useful for comparing Sausalito with similar small cities in other states, but expect small differences from the state file because of reporting rules.
Sausalito Police Department quarterly reports
The department posts its quarterly crime and traffic staff reports on the city website, newest first, back to 2018. They are the most current source, about a quarter behind, and they include traffic collisions, which matter if you will walk or cycle along Bridgeway: police counted 67 collisions in 2025, 11 involving bicycles. Questions go to the department at (415) 289-4170.
LexisNexis Community Crime Map
The city says Sausalito police use the LexisNexis Community Crime Map to show incidents by location. Search an address to see recent reported incidents nearby, keeping in mind that map points are often placed at the block level.
Megan's Law website
The California DOJ's Megan's Law website lists registered sex offenders by address. Check it for any home you are considering.
Other risks to check in Sausalito
For most Sausalito homes, natural hazards are a bigger financial risk than crime.
Flooding and sea level rise on the Sausalito waterfront
The city's sea level rise page points to frequent flooding of Gate 5 Road. Its General Plan says the Marinship and Downtown Historic District are vulnerable to sea level rise, subsidence and flooding. Look up the flood zone on FEMA's Flood Map Service Center and ask the seller about past water intrusion.
Landslide and wildfire on Sausalito's hills
The General Plan names landslides as a source of great risk, citing slides in 2014 and 2019, and notes wildfire risk from the forested hills. Check the address on Cal OES MyHazards and the CAL FIRE hazard zone map, and read our California wildfire zones guide. Insurance quotes will reflect both risks; see the homeowners insurance guide.
Checks before you buy or rent in Sausalito
- Confirm whether the address is inside the city or in the Sheriff's area.
- Read the last four quarterly police reports and the DOJ figures above.
- Search the address on the Community Crime Map and the Megan's Law site.
- Ask where you will park overnight; car break-ins are the most common crime here.
- Check flood, landslide and fire zones, and get insurance quotes early.
For prices and areas, see our guide to living in Sausalito, the Sausalito real estate hub and the statewide California crime data guide.