Elliston · Photo: MARELBU · CC BY 3.0Who polices Sunol, and what they report
Sunol has no police department of its own: it’s an unincorporated community (a census-designated place) in Alameda County. The Alameda County Sheriff’s Office reports to the FBI for the parts of the county without police of their own, so there are no figures for Sunol alone, and no Safety Grade.
What stands out about safety in Sunol
Policed by the county
Sunol is a census-designated place, with no town government. Crimes there are reported to the FBI inside the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office’s totals for the county. County police ↓
Counts, not rates
The FBI doesn’t publish how many people the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office covers, so its totals can’t be turned into a per-resident rate or a grade for Sunol. County police ↓
The nearest graded towns
The closest California towns with their own police figures are Pleasanton (C+, 6 mi), Fremont (C, 7 mi), Union City (C−, 8 mi). Nearby towns can differ a lot from Sunol. Nearest ↓
Written from the FBI data on this page. Figures are crimes reported to police, not convictions.
What the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office reports
Crimes reported to the FBI for the whole area the department covers, by year.
Reports to the FBI for the parts of Alameda County without police of their own, which include Sunol.
Property crimes
Violent crimes
2025 offenses reported by the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office
Counts, not rates: the FBI doesn’t publish how many people each agency covers. FBI Uniform Crime Reporting, Tables 10–11.
The nearest California towns with a Safety Grade
Each town’s own police figures, per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
| Town | Grade | Distance | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pleasanton | C+ | 6 mi | 1.2 | 16.8 |
| Fremont | C | 7 mi | 1.7 | 22.9 |
| Union City | C− | 8 mi | 4.5 | 24.0 |
| Dublin | C+ | 9 mi | 1.5 | 16.7 |
| Livermore | C | 10 mi | 2.1 | 20.2 |
| Newark | D | 10 mi | 3.4 | 35.4 |
Straight-line distance from the center of Sunol. Nearby towns can differ a lot from Sunol.
12 people died in crashes on Sunol’s roads in 2019–2023
Sunol had 11 fatal crashes in five years, in which 12 people died. Most of these deaths (8 of 12) were on an Interstate passing through, so they say more about through-traffic than about the town’s own streets.
That is 283.4 deaths per 100,000 residents a year, above the median for California towns of 2,500–5,000 people (7.0, 186 towns).
Deaths are counted where the crash happened, not where the people lived: a highway through town adds through-traffic deaths, and residents’ own risk on roads elsewhere isn’t here. Town rates sit below state and U.S. rates because a third of fatal crashes happen outside any town. Road safety is described here and is not part of the Safety Grade. Source: NHTSA Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), 2019–2023.
Sunol and its neighbors
How reported crime compares across the town line. Tap a town to see its safety page.
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fremont | C | 1.7 | 22.9 |
| Pleasanton | C+ | 1.2 | 16.8 |
| Hayward | D | 5.3 | 34.0 |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- It’s reported crime. Only incidents reported to and recorded by police appear here. Many crimes are never reported to police.
- A county agency covers a wide area. Its totals mix many communities, so they say little about any one of them.
- Gaps are real gaps. A missing year means the department didn’t report a full year, not that nothing happened.
How the grade is calculated, for every town: How TownRatings grades safety →
Questions about safety in Sunol
Is Sunol, CA safe?
There is no Safety Grade for Sunol. Sunol has no police department of its own: it’s an unincorporated community (a census-designated place) in Alameda County. The Alameda County Sheriff’s Office reports to the FBI for the parts of the county without police of their own, so there are no figures for Sunol alone, and no Safety Grade. The nearest California towns with a grade are Pleasanton (C+, 6 mi), Fremont (C, 7 mi), Union City (C−, 8 mi).
Who polices Sunol?
The Alameda County Sheriff’s Office. Sunol is an unincorporated community, and the department reports to the FBI for the parts of Alameda County without police of their own.
Heads-up board
Neighbors looking out for each other in Sunol.
Your answer becomes a post in Town Square.
Please don’t name or describe individuals. In an emergency, call 911.
Crime: FBI Uniform Crime Reporting Program, Crime Data Explorer: offenses known to law enforcement by city, and state and national rates. Counts are crimes reported to police, not convictions. The Safety Grade is our own summary of that data, not an official rating. Road deaths: NHTSA Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), 2019–2023. This isn’t an official statement of public safety. In an emergency, call 911.