Oakland poised to end year with fewer homicides for first time post-pandemic
With just a couple of days left in 2024, Oakland is poised to end the year with fewer than 100 homicides. It'll be the first time the city has seen a significant drop in homicides post-pandemic.
Oakland police reported so far this year, officers responded to 82 homicides. That's down from 125 in the same period last year, which is a 34% reduction.
It's progress, but many residents said that's nothing to celebrate because that number is still more than San Jose and San Francisco's homicide numbers combined and those are much more populated cities.
The latest OPD weekly crime statistics also showed overall crime was down by 34% year over year.
The preliminary numbers from Jan. 1 to Dec. 22 showed robbery went down by 25% compared to the same period last year. Burglary dropped by almost half to 49 percent and motor vehicle theft declined by 33%.
City leaders credited the reduction on the CHP sending in officers to help and the crime-fighting strategy called 'Operation Ceasefire,' where clergy members work with high-risk individuals to reduce gun violence.
But not everyone is convinced that crime is down because they said there's a sense of lawlessness in Oakland. They cited videos on the news and on social media websites depicting people ransacking businesses or thieves driving stolen cars into stores to steal things.
But authorities said both can be true. While the crime numbers are down, some of the cases they responded to were much more violent and destructive.
Voters will elect a new mayor in a special election after they recently recalled Mayor Sheng Thao. But the new mayor will face an uphill battle.
Severe budget cuts will shrink the already understaffed police force down to 600 cops. There will be fewer resources for violence prevention and intervention programs.
