Oakland business say 911 response times affecting safety in their neighborhood
Business in Oakland said 911 response times are affecting how safe they feel and the number of clientele they get as car break-ins are frequent in their neighborhood.
Everett and Jones BBQ has been at the corner of Broadway and 2nd for over 20 years.
In that time, they've seen a lot of change, specifically crime.
Nowadays, it's commonplace for them to see people breaking into cars outside, and when they call 911, they say it can take a long time for police to show up.
"I just think it's another tool for the bad guys to know that they can do things and no one's going to come," said Dorcia White, the owner of Everett and Jones BBQ.
Dorcia White, the owner of Everett and Jones BBQ, said she's called 911 on multiple occasions to report people breaking into cars right outside of her restaurant.
"I had one instance where I literally watched a group all day. It was like we were prisoners almost in here. We just literally through the glass windows watched them break into cars and wait and break into cars, and we called and called and called and no one ever came," said White.
Dorcia said that's happened so often that they've resorted to putting up signs around their restaurant warning customers.
"It really has drastically you know changed the dynamic of our business. Most of our business now is take out or DoorDash because people just don't feel safe," said White.
Just this year OPD said it's received over 1.1 million 911 calls.
The department sent out a release reminding people to only call 911 when there is a life-threatening emergency.
Dorcia said she knows that the crimes she's calling in deal with property, but she believes they still need to be taken seriously.
"You might think this is petty, but they're not petty because most of them have guns. They're willing to use them and then that turns into something big," said White.
Thankfully, Dorcia told KPIX she's seen a recent drop in car break-ins over the past month and this week has been the best she's had in a long time.
"I've had three parties today, and I've seen no glass and I'm celebrating so maybe something is changing," said White.
Dorcia said she's hopeful the recent decline in car break ins will continue.
If it doesn't, she may soon have to rethink staying at this location.