Amid retail theft crackdown, Oakland Grand Lake merchants say more help is needed
Gov. Gavin Newsom says there's been record progress by the California Highway Patrol in combating organized retail theft.
One area they've deployed the CHP officers is in Oakland. Yet some businesses in the Grand Lake area of Oakland say they're not seeing any crackdown on retail crime.
"It's gotta stop," said Bubba Taylor, chef at The Alley, a historic piano bar on Grand Avenue. "It has to stop, because we're all feed up with it. We are."
The Alley fell victim to a break in on July 24th.
"They took our ATM machine and our cash register," said Taylor "I don't think they got much money out of it but still it's costing us to put our life back together."
On Thursday morning, Taylor was working outside the restaurant, trying to beautify the area to make it more welcoming for potential customers.
The state has also stepped up its own efforts to help storefronts with the organized retail crime task force.
Newsom announced the CHP made record progress in the month of July, with 106% more arrests than in previous months and a more than 200% increase in criminal investigations.
But Taylor hasn't seen any increased CHP presence.
"I come here for work between 1 p.m. to almost 1 o'clock in the morning," said Taylor. "I have not seen one. I have not seen even police."
Eric Dam manages the Ace Hardware Graden Center about a half mile away, also on Grand Avenue.
"I haven't noticed much CHP officers around here," said Dam.
He says as a garden center they are less of a target for break-ins, but still not completely immune.
A few years ago, thieves broke into their outdoor area.
"So what we did is we actually beefed up the gate, but they cut the padlock and opened it and just took some soil out of here. Loaded it up on a car then took some wind chimes and things but I have no idea what they're thinking," Dam told CBS News Bay Area.
Dam has lived and worked in Oakland for more than two decades. He says he feels unsafe and debates selling his home and moving elsewhere.
"You just never know what will happen, who will pull up on you in Oakland you just have to constantly watch your back all the time," said Dam.
But Taylor still has hope for the city.
"It's not Oakland, Oakland is a beautiful place," said Taylor. "This area is the best place that you can live, shop, hang out, go to Lake Merritt, get fresh food."
Taylor says he wants to see more uniformed police and CHP officers on the streets of Oakland preventing crime.
"They have to do a better job than what they're doing now," he said.
Earlier this week, California lawmakers passed numerous bills to address retail theft crime, which included cracking down on the sale of stolen goods, and making it easier to prosecute burglaries.
Those bills now await Newsom's signature.