North Oakland residents gathered Thursday night, December 17, at the North Oakland Senior Center with OPD Captain Anthony Toribio, City Council President Jane Brunner, and several Problem-Solving Officers.  The purpose of the meeting was to share information on recent crimes, OPD's strategy for public safety in the area, and discuss how to improve communication between the OPD and the Neighborhood Crime Prevention Councils (NCPCs).

Some residents in North Oakland have been concerned about what some have called a recent string of car thefts, robberies, break-ins, at least a couple shootings and homicides, especially in the Bushrod and Golden Gate neighborhoods.  There was also a kidnapping/robbery at an ATM.  This is the second such meeting to discuss public safety issues.

The meeting’s agenda included discussing crime data, police beats and the role of Problem Solving Officers (PSOs), communication between OPD and the community, and finally budgeting and staffing issues.

Marie Mason, a crime analyst for the OPD, was the first to present, sharing Area 1 crime statistics.  Crime statistics from 2008 compared to this year show a decline in most crimes with the exception of homicide.

In Area 1, there were 1212 burglaries in 2008, compared to 1198 so far this year.  Robberies are down 21% (365 in 2008, 287 this year).  Vehicle theft is down 30% from last year (796 in 2008, 555 this year).  The bad news is that homicides are up 18%, from 50 to 59 so far. This contrasts with Oakland overall, where violent crime and homicides are down.  

“We’re looking pretty good, apart from these homicides, which is a special breed of crime.  We feel pretty good about these numbers.”

Addressing the sentiment that is sometimes heard from residents that they don’t report crime because it won’t ever be solved, Mason countered, “It is important to report every single crime. This helps with patterns and prevention.”

“Most of the crime is south of MacArthur Bart,” Mason added.

OPD Captain Anthony Toribio, began by giving a overview of police beats and staffing, including the role of Problem Solving Officers.  There are 55 Neighborhood Crime Prevention Councils across Oakland, each corresponding to a police beat. Five of those are in North Oakland.  Very soon into the meeting, a question was raised about the rate of crimes that are solved. 

Toribio was frank in answering the question.

“Poor. Very poor. More often than not, they are not solved.””  He said about 2500 cases were filed a month (with about 190 robbery reports, 2100 theft) with no investigation.  

He followed it up with factors that make it more likely that a crime is solved, including having a suspect in custody, having key witnesses, how detailed the witness report is, and which types of information make it from the written reports to the right data fields in the system to make an ID match.

“Also, thousands of [finger] prints go unprocessed, “Toribio continued.  He said there is one staff person trained to do the job. “It is both a budget and training issue.”

On top of this Toribio said that crime is vastly underreported, for a variety of reasons. “I believe robberies are under-reported.  We need witnesses to come forward.”

In contrast, over half the homicide cases (52%) have been solved this year, a rather high statistic compared to other crimes.  He attributed this in large part to having more homicide investigators.

Toribio also reported on some things that are being implemented.  They now have an Intelligence Officer.  They have one Public Information Officer and are hiring one more.  In addition, PSOs go through a Crime Prevention through Environmental Design (CPTED) training, that focuses on design and creating environmental conditions to reduce crime.  As an example of implementation, Toribio said that officers audited street lights that were out and reported them to the city to be fixed and that officers are “now required to canvass the house on either side or across the street,” at the scene of a police report.

Toribio said that there are 3500 parolees and 5000 on probation in Oakland, which prompted one attendee to ask if Oakland was “just a dumping ground for ex-felons.”  Toribio replied that the law dictates that prisoners who have served their time be released back into their communities.

“Recidivism rate is significant,” he said. Toribio explained that “GPS bracelets are placed on some parolees and we pick up a lot of offenders based on that.”  GPS (global positioning system) ankle bracelets are a way to keep tabs on someone electronically via satellite.  It is being used to show the real-time location of a range of people, including criminals under house arrest, sex offenders, pre-trial defendants, paroled ex-felons, truant students, immigrants (including those who came legally and have never been accused of a crime), and most recently those with Alzheimer’s disease.

“We pick them up, bring them to jail, take off the bracelet and re-use it.”

Turning to the issue of communication. Toribio said that he wants to see “better communication both within the department and with the community. We need to do a better job of communicating to people affected by a police action in a neighborhood, even if it’s simply to tell them what has happened.“

Neighborhood watch groups often have phone trees that they utilized to share information about a crime.  OPD also has such a system that sends out automatic calls with alerts to the homes in the neighborhood from which an emergency call is made.  Toribio said that it makes about 15 calls every 10 minutes.  A new OPD website will go live January 15.  The website would among other things make it easier to report crimes and see data on local crime.

“I am receptive to new ideas.”

The issue of gangs was raised by a resident who lives near the border of North Oakland and Berkeley.  Officer John Cunnie reported that several arrests were made recently, with “three major players taken down” who had several high-powered rifles.

“Gang activity has died down,” he said. “Though we suspect it might be on-going.”

“In North Oakland, the overwhelming majority of homicides are gang related, based on retaliation that may go back years,” said Toribio.  “The key to fighting gangs is intelligence, correct identification finding out who they are, and using the tools of injunctions.”  

He sees Civil Gang Injunctions being implemented more in the first part of 2010.  “One effective tool is ‘buy-bust’ operations,” Toribio, but lamented they have a shortage of under-cover officers.

Towards the end of the meeting, a man asked Toribio how badly understaffed he felt his department was.  He answered that they have authorization for 803 officers yet have 787 staffed, with an attrition rate of 3-4 per month.  The department now needs to cut $7 million from its budget.

“Where that’s going to come from I don’t know. It’s very troubling for us now,” Toribio said.

Jane Brunner came to the front.  She had just come from a council budget meeting.

 “Let me answer that. It’s very serious.”

 “I may not have the numbers exactly right off the top of my head, but the city is a $1 billion institution and about over half of that is state and federal money we can’t touch," she said.  "That leaves about $411 million in the general fund.  About 85% of that is police and fire, or $350 million.  That leaves about $60 million for everything else, ranging from parks & recreation, medians, libraries, and so on.  And we have to find some way to cut $20 million more next year.”  

The city council already made over $100 million in cuts earlier this year to help close the budget deficit.  Almost every department has been effected.  Sales taxes and property taxes make the bulk of general fund revenue for the city of Oakland and both are down.  The city is still facing a $18.9 million budget deficit, projected to be $25 million in the next fiscal year, starting July.

“I guarantee we will be laying off police officers next year something doesn’t change.”

“But it’s worse than that,” Brunner continued.  “Because of Measure Y.”

Oakland voters passed Measure Y in 2004 to provide about $19 million every year for ten years to fund violence prevention programs, additional police officers, and fire services.  Measure Y revenue (from new parcel tax & commercial parking lot surcharge) funds the recruitment, training, and salary of Problem Solving Officers.

However, the city may be on the hook for $10-$15 million dollars to pay back Measure Y dollars that were allegedly spent on general police recruitment and waste.  The city was sued by Marleen Sachs who claimed that Oakland illegally used millions of dollars of Measure Y money, violating the intent of the measure.  A Superior Court judge agreed with her.  The money would have to be paid back from the general fund.

The city is appealing the decision, though Jane Brunner was the sole councilmember to vote against the choice to appeal.  If the court’s judgment stands, it may mean that even less general fund dollars will be available for vital city services.

“City staff is stretched too far as it is.  There is no room for cuts, not 5 percent. We’d be talking whole programs. And I don’t think anybody wants to cut police officers,” Brunner added.

 “The only way not to see this happen is if there were a public safety initiative on the June ballot.”  This seemed to be the first public airing of an idea to have a new ballot measure for raising revenue for the OPD.

“Sorry to be all gloom & doom,” she concluded.

The meeting concluded with a pitch from the Neighborhood Crime Prevention Council spokesperson Claudia Albano. Referencing Harvard scholar Robert Putnam’s book “Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community,” Albano made the point that we have become much more isolated than ever before and we need to build community as the best crime detection and prevention measure.

“We don’t know each other. We like to think of ourselves as a progressive community.  Well, the most progressive thing you can do is to form a neighborhood group.”

For more information:

Join your local Neighborhood Crime Prevention Councils

Map it: Oakland Crimespotting and CrimeWatch: OPD's Community Crime Mapping Site