The Oakland City Council this week passed a resolution directing the city administration to take specific actions to address the city’s rising crime rate, including by asking for more help from the FBI.
The approval of the resolution Tuesday comes as Oakland’s crime rate continues to surge, unnerving residents and prompting some to move out.
The resolution authored by Councilmember Dan Kalb calls for the Oakland Police Department to increase its number of walking beat officers in the city’s neighborhoods and make those positions permanent.
Oakland officials are also required to seek increased support from federal, state, and county law enforcement agencies, including adding more FBI investigators to help solve violent crimes and boosting multi-jurisdictional operations to confiscate illegal firearms.
The resolution also requires city officials to do the following:
- identify and analyze options to increase and retain 911 dispatch manpower and reduce 911 hold time for residents
- create a lateral police academy
- intensify violence prevention and intervention efforts, including pushing talks with Alameda County officials to expand reentry services for parolees and probationers following their incarceration
- install security cameras along certain freeway on-ramps and along retail business corridors
- create a grant program to fund the purchase of the security cameras
According to Oakland police’s latest report, the city’s total crimes have risen approximately 28 percent from last year.
“The increase in crime we are seeing is a disturbing trend and one that our city must address right away in a comprehensive fashion,” Kalb said in a statement. “I authored this Resolution to move our city in the correct direction so we can combat the uptick in crime our city has seen over the past year. I look forward to the City Administration implementing these directives as soon as possible.”
Success of ‘Operation North Star III’
While Oakland grapples with increasing violence, its police force announced a successful collaboration with the U.S. Marshals Service on Wednesday as part of a national push dubbed “Operation North Star III.”
The operation nabbed 4,445 fugitives across the country, more than half of which were for violent offenses.
In Oakland, the collaboration acted on and closed 156 warrants and arrested 137 fugitives, U.S. Marshals said.
Of those taken into custody in Oakland, 31 were involved in homicides and 20 people were suspected of assault. Four people were arrested for sex offenses. Robbery and weapons crimes rounded out the remainder.
“Operation North Star (ONS) is an evidence-based strategy that targets the drivers of violence in our communities,” said U.S. Marshals Service Director Ronald Davis in a prepared statement. “ONS is part of the Attorney General’s violent crime reduction strategy, and its success is based on community partnerships and collaboration with our local and state law enforcement partners.”
Authorities also seized 61 firearms, over 3,000 rounds of ammunition, and over $2,000 in cash. Nationally, those numbers were 555 firearms and $1 million in illicit currency over a three-month period.
North Star III also seized over 11 kilograms of narcotics in Oakland and 25 pounds of marijuana. Nationally, the operation brought in 85 kilograms of narcotics.
The other primary jurisdictions that were part of Operation North Star III were Albuquerque, Baltimore, Buffalo, Chicago, Cleveland, Columbus Detroit, Houston, Indianapolis, Jackson, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Memphis, Milwaukee, New Orleans, New York, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C.