Oakland Police Department Adds More Officers for Weekend Violent Crime Enforcement
OAKLAND (CBS SF) -- Already grappling with 33 homicides so far this year, the Oakland Police Department is putting more officers on the streets this weekend to focus on violent crime.
The move comes after the third-largest city in the Bay Area recorded three additional fatal shootings since Wednesday.
An Oakland police spokesperson said the department is closely tracking the rise in fatal shootings in the city of 445,000, including the descriptions of those responsible for those killings. At the same time, homicides in Oakland are down 10 percent in 2022 so far, as compared with this same time last year.
The three homicides that occurred during the last three days occurred during evening hours.
The first fatal shooting occurred just before 9 p.m. Wednesday in the 1200 block of Lakeshore Avenue, in the vicinity of other fatal shootings recently.
Officers responded, located the victim and provided medical aid until paramedics arrived, according to police. Paramedics took the victim to a hospital where he died, police said.
Police later confirmed that the shooting happened during a robbery. The victim in the Wednesday night shooting was identified as Devon Stanford.
On Thursday evening, there were two separate fatal shootings in Oakland that happened just minutes apart.
One victim was shot before 10 p.m. in the 3400 block of Mandela Parkway in West Oakland, according to police. The other victim was shot just after 10 p.m. in the 1800 block of East 12th Street in East Oakland.
Both victims were male, and each suffered one or more bullet wounds, police said. Officers rendered first aid to the victims, but both died at the scene, according to police.
Neither victim's name was available Friday afternoon from the Alameda County coroner's bureau.
The sole purpose of the additional officers this weekend is to focus on violent crimes, according to police. Officers will also be dedicated to illegal sideshow enforcement and supporting patrol officers for calls for services.
The department is also relying on what it calls intelligence-led policing. Its Crime Gun Intelligence Center and the Violent Crime Operations Center lead the department's focused enforcement and apprehension efforts. So far in 2022, the Violent Crime Operations Center has arrested 10 suspects connected to homicides and has recovered three dozen firearms.
The Oakland Police Department is encouraging residents and businesses to install security surveillance cameras.
Anyone with information about the three homicides since Wednesday evening is asked to contact the Oakland Police Department's Homicide Unit at (510) 238-3821 or the tip line at (510) 238-7950.