How much crime is too much for cities like Oakland?
Major cities in the country continue to see their quality of life decrease as crime increases. It is not only violent crime that is causing problems, either.
As of mid-September, Oakland, California, had recorded 11,417 motor vehicle thefts or nearly 41 car thefts a day. In just the week of Oct. 2 – 8, 125 cars were stolen, according to the Oakland Police Department crime data. This does not include the 549 carjackings for the year, which falls under robberies.
Overall, car thefts are up 50 percent over 2022, and carjackings are up 21 percent.
As bad as these numbers are, they may actually be worse. Police offices told CBS in Oakland that they believed the numbers to be even higher than reported because many residents have given up even reporting crimes because they can’t get help.
“While the number is pretty staggering, I wish I could say that I was truly surprised or am truly surprised for that matter because of the lack of leadership in Oakland city government and the lack of accountability,” Eugene Kopman, a resident of Oakland, told CBS. “My car was parked at the Coliseum BART. I took my son to a baseball game last Sunday and I came back -- the car was gone.”
This is what happens when a city government doesn’t support its police force and instead, tries to enforce the law with progressive policies. Oakland is just one of many cities experiencing the same thing. Rather than supporting the police as they enforce the law, governments are hindering the police’s ability to act, prosecutors aren’t prosecuting crimes, and liberal judges are sentencing them for their crimes.
There are so many examples out there, and many of them are in worse shape than Oakland. The preponderance of evidence clealry asserts that a “soft on crime” approach doesn’t work.
Residents of these cities have had enough. Many of them are moving out, which is unfortunate because they often take their failed ideas on justice and continue to try and implement them in other cities.
Residents who remain in the city often try to reverse the direction their governments have taken. They have pressured their mayors and district attorneys to increase the size of the police force so that officers can respond more quickly to crimes.
Easier said than done. Progressive policies have crippled police forces in many jurisdictions, and officers do not want to work for those police departments that are still hampered by failed policies. Residents in Oakland were particularly frustrated that the city failed to submit an application to the California government to receive additional funds that would have gone to help the overwhelmed police force.
“The buck stops with the mayor. This is the mayor’s fault.” Oakland NAACP President Cynthia Adams told CBS.
It’s not just motor vehicle thefts in the city, either. Overall crime in Oakland is up 26 percent over 2022, and crime in 2022 was up nearly 20 percent over 2021.
City life is no way to live.
Michael A. Letts is the CEO and Founder of In-VestUSA, a national grassroots non-profit organization helping hundreds of communities provide thousands of bulletproof vests for their police forces through educational, public relations, sponsorship, and fundraising programs.
CONTACT: Jerry McGlothlin for Michael Letts 919-437-0001 jerry@specialguests.com.
Report: George Soros-Backed District Attorney Pamela Price’s Laptop Stolen in Crime-Ridden Oakland
George Soros-backed Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price was reportedly the victim of a car burglary on Friday afternoon in Oakland, California.
Sources said Price’s work laptop was stolen while her vehicle was parked outside a family justice center near 27th Street and Telegraph Avenue, ABC 7 reported.
Authorities later confirmed the burglary and said officers learned several people broke into a vehicle and stole items from inside it before fleeing the area.
The ABC 7 report continued:
ABC7 I-Team reporter Dan Noyes said on X on Saturday, formerly known as Twitter, DA Price’s bodyguard parked the $90,000 county Tahoe SUV outside the Family Justice Center, and returned to see the window broken and her work laptop gone.
According to Noyes, an OPD source says Price waited an hour for police to arrive, gave up and made the report online.
In August, activists filed a recall against Price, who was backed by leftist billionaire Soros in a failed 2018 bid, according to Breitbart News.
Price is accused of letting crime run rampant in Oakland since she won her election in 2022, the outlet stated:
Known for its “progressive” left-wing policies, Oakland embraced the “Defund the Police” movement when it began during the Black Lives Matter protests and riots of 2020. Then-Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf told a meeting of Democratic mayors in June 2020 that it was not enough to “defund the police,” but that it was also necessary to “replace the police.” That month, Oakland abolished its school police department. In February 2023, newly-inaugurated “progressive” Mayor Sheng Thao fired Oakland Police Department Chief LeRonne Armstrong, who had been critical of police budget cuts; he is suing her for wrongful dismissal.
Meanwhile, crime has become so bad in Oakland — the largest city in DA Price’s jurisdiction — that police have encouraged the public to use airhorns to warn thieves away, and normally left-wing-minded residents are blasting a failed progressive utopia.
RELATED — Oakland NAACP: People Are Afraid to Walk to Mailboxes Due to Crime Spawned by Defunding Police, Lax Prosecution
In July, Price said yes when asked if she felt safe living in Oakland.
“I live in east Oakland, even. And I know a lot of people think, ‘Oh, that’s terrible,’ but I feel safe,” she claimed:
Oakland neighbors and victims of crime who are deeply worried and concerned over safety issues gathered to address the issue with law enforcement and Price in late July, KTVU reported:
“They just drive around and pick a victim. It’s getting scary. I’m fearful,” one woman told the outlet.
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