The year-over-year increase in crime in Oakland is 20 percent. 100 people have been killed so far this year. And the city’s police chief does not have a plan to reduce crime rates citywide.
Such revelations at the City Council meeting on Tuesday drew the criticisms and ire of members of the council, who want to begin acting now to bring the crime wave under control. But police action is limited by the lack of officers available. The department’s 629 officers is 208 fewer than the City had in 2008. That’s led to an increase in 9-1-1 response times and left them under-staffed to handle a large-scale crime reduction strategy.
Earlier in the year, Mayor Jean Quan introduced a 100-Block plan designed to reduce violent crime in 100-blocks with a disproportionally high crime rate. But that plan has been moved to a back burner after flaws were discovered.
Just because there isn’t a large-scale crime fighting strategy in the works doesn’t mean the police aren’t investigating local and targeted strategies. Once would call for an increased focus on unsupervised minors. By establishing a curfew for minors, the chief hopes that he would be able to keep the streets cleared on young offenders. However, arresting, detaining, and returning violating minors presents a manpower and resources challenge.
Read the full story at the San Francisco Chronicle.