During a community safety meeting with local leaders at Oakland Technical High School, on May 30, 2023, hundreds of Oakland, California residents urged city officials to crack down on rising crime.
Growing incidents of crime have plagued the city over the last year. One angry resident at this meeting said Oakland residents are the “victims of a failed progressive utopia.”
City Council Member Dan Kalb, who organized the meeting, was on a panel with Jeffrey Thomason, the Oakland Police Captain, along with Kentrell Killens, the interim chief of Oakland’s Department of Violence Prevention.
Oakland Residents Growing Angry About Crime
Several residents shared their stories of how violence has disrupted their daily lives.
According to a report by KTVU Fox 2, there were over 500 individuals participating at this meeting to air out their grievances against the city’s lax-on-crime policies.
A couple of hundred North Oakland residents sounded off last night about public safety issues in their neighborhoods.https://t.co/8p7aDUFm8v
— Darwin BondGraham (@DarwinBondGraha) May 31, 2023
During the previous week, Oakland Police Chief Darren held a press conference where he revealed Oakland experienced 100 robberies in just a week. 50 of those recorded robberies took place within a 72-hour timeframe.
Violent crime and robberies have been climbing upwards in Oakland over the last year.
Crime Surging at Alarming Rates in Oakland
According to a report by the San Francisco Chronicle, violent crime in Oakland surged by 7% in 2023.
On top of that, robberies have increased by 12% on a year-to-year basis, per figures that the Oakland Police Department was able to cobble together.
Women in Oakland describe terrible violence they're suffering from robberies and assaults https://t.co/4NC3Ia5Sbd pic.twitter.com/aIfbvFN5Ht
— Zaid Jilani (@ZaidJilani) May 31, 2023
The Chronicle also noted in North Oakland, there has been a 22% rise in robbery incidents over the past years — going from 101 in 2022 to 123 in 2023.
In a similar vein, there has been an 18% surge in violent crime, going from 211 incidents in 2022 to 249 in 2023.
The disgruntled Oakland residents at this meeting were also annoyed by the city’s controversial policy of not pursuing or giving tickets to people who commit low-level traffic offenses.
This policy even applies to drivers wearing ski masks as they drive their cars without license plates.
