Oakland Police Grapple With Deadliest Week In Recent Years
OAKLAND (KCBS) - Oakland Police Chief Howard Jordan had already been looking to boost patrols before the city saw seven murders in the span of seven days this week.
While it's still not clear what's behind this latest spike in violence, authorities were hoping they don't see a repeat of last Friday night, when three men were killed in separate incidents - which began one of the worst episodes of sustained violence the city has seen in nearly five years.
Thursday, a 19-year-old woman was murdered in an East Oakland motel, marking the 63rd homicide in Oakland in 2012.
The last time the city saw this rate of deadly violence was when eight people were killed over four days in August 2007.
Already this week, Jordan had to defend the mixed results from the police department's latest attempt at violence suppression - the so-called "90-day plan," which saw some crimes go down but others spike.
"Under the circumstances when there's a lot of people outside, a lot of witnesses, and there's just a wonton disregard for human life," lamented Jordan. "Criminals are becoming more bold. I believe there's a number of murders here over the last month or so where they happened in broad daylight."
KCBS' Holly Quan Reports:
He said he remains committed, however, to stemming the tide of violence and hinted of possible restructuring within the department.
"We're also going to consolidate some of the problem-solving officers and form crime reduction teams or enforcement teams to be proactive," said Jordan.
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