Ridgecrest California

Ridgecrest, California has recorded 82 homicides over the tracked period, with 96 victims identified. Tracking continues through 2026. The city ranks #43 among 339 U.S. cities tracked by the FBI, with a clearance rate of 12% — meaning an arrest or suspect identification was made in 10 of those incidents, while 46 remain open. The weapon mix skews toward firearm - handguns (roughly 41% of cases with weapon data), with firearm - type unknown, knife/cutting instrument as the next-most-frequent categories. The single deadliest month on record was August 2022, with 10 homicides logged. Reporting is dominated by Ridgecrest Police Department, which filed 82 incident reports. The annual homicide count runs near the per-city average for the FBI's tracking universe. California's statewide firearms policy — an assault-weapons ban and universal background checks — is part of the regulatory backdrop for the local dynamic, even as the city-level pattern is shaped most directly by community-level conditions and the broader opioid and fentanyl crisis. For broader statewide context, see our California state homicide data page. The Murder Channel's California coverage provides ongoing context for this city's homicide patterns as new FBI UCR reports are released.