Oakland has a crime problem.

It’s a big one - murder, robbery, home invasions way out of proportion to Oakland’s size and relative wealth, plus lots of consequential trauma, social upheaval and economic loss. The problem has been around for decades. All this in a city that should be a jewel of the Bay Area, with a lovely climate, an abundance of beautiful natural features, many attractive and interesting neighborhoods and a diverse and creative population. 

Sometimes the crime problem diminishes a bit; sometimes it gets worse, as it’s now doing. Awareness of crime as a big problem among citizens, elected officials and the media also waxes and wanes. These days as awareness waxes, community groups organize rallies or public safety strategy meetings, the mayor organizes a city-wide meeting with an abundance of food and fanfare and the City Council reaches into its magic hat to pull forth a range of typically short-sighted “solutions,” which are perfectly designed to avoid dealing with the problem and to keep the community divided against itself. 

Read that last sentence again because that is the heart of what I am writing about.

Oakland has a big crime problem that can indeed be solved, but we don’t currently have a government that is capable of either planning a solution or carrying it through. Thus I must firmly assert that Oakland’s crime problem is really problem of governance, rather than one of crime itself. 

What does “owning the problem” mean for Oakland with regard to crime? By way of illustration I offer a medical tale:  

Mr. Oakland goes to the doctor complaining that his “second stomach” aches at times and occasionally swells up. His doctor prods the big lump on Mr. Oakland’s front and orders a CAT-scan and some blood work. The doctor then calls in Mr. Oakland for a consultation.  

Doctor: “The bad news is that that lump on your front isn’t a second stomach; it’s a tumor. The good news is that it’s fully treatable and after treatment and recovery you will be back running marathons, water-skiing on the Bay and eating spicy food whenever you want, so long as you stay away from the fried stuff. Your sex life will improve drastically and you will actually look much better without a second stomach. In fact, I think you would become a very handsome person.” 

Mr. Oakland: “But Doc, I’ve had my second stomach forever. I think it gets better the more hamburgers I eat. And I just found an ad for a lump-reducing salve in the back pages of Better Homes and Garages magazine. The salve is only $30 for a month’s supply. If I can just keep my second stomach from aching and swelling, I’m fine. I have my friends down at the my neighborhood burger place and I’ve gotten used to not having a girlfriend. I can get along fine with things as they are.” 

Doctor: “Look, Mr. Oakland, this is a big thing to take on, but sooner or later your tumor will diminish your life even more than it has already and it’s likely to kill you eventually. You are an intelligent and basically very healthy person and I know that you can handle the treatment. I and others working with me will be with you all the way.  

“You need to think carefully about it and I suggest you take all the time you need to make your decision. I won’t try to hide from you that you are going to need to devote most of your time, energy and money to your treatment, but I am quite certain that your life will be much better afterward. You are going to have to undergo a surgery, a program of drug therapy and a great deal of physical therapy. You are going to have to focus on and take care of your health every single day, but your life will be much better if you do.” 

How can Mr. Oakland own his problem? He can admit that he has a tumor rather than a second stomach. He can accept the need for real, carefully-planned treatment and that he will have an ongoing role in taking good care of his health. 

How does the real Oakland own its crime problem? It admits that crime is the chief economic and social burden on this city. It admits that dealing with the crime problem requires thoughtful, comprehensive and scientific work involving experts, citizens, government and, yes, even the elected officials who prefer to buy (and sell) tumor-reducing salve. 

Unfortunately, there is not a single elected official in the city of Oakland who has owned the crime problem here.

The mayor claims that Oakland has many priorities. To say this suggests that the mayor hasn’t bothered to check the dictionary about the meaning of priority. Oakland may indeed have more than one priority. Perhaps there are two priorities, but it should be clear that crime is priority number one if Oakland is to become the city it could and should be. 

Councilmen Larry Reid and Ignacio DeLaFuente are currently pushing salve in the form of a curfew and an anti-loitering ordinance for Oakland’s second stomach.

Councilwoman Desley Brooks has been pushing salve in the form of more and bigger lightbulbs in parts of her district, a renovation of the “Shot-spotter” technology and Oakland-resident mandated jobs in the redevelopment of the Oakland Army Base. It’s all salve and it’s absolutely not part of a comprehensive treatment plan. 

One official in the city of Oakland has stepped up publicly to own the crime problem in Oakland. That official is Police Chief Batts who has clearly expressed his dismay since he first came to work here. Batts has said many times that crime is Oakland’s biggest problem and that he is upset that “we” seem to be unable to admit it. 

My next columns will describe how we in Oakland can put together a treatment plan for our biggest problem and how we can manage that treatment plan.

First, however, we have to throw out the “second stomach” notion.  

See all stories in this series:

Crime in Oakland: Owning the problem (Community Voices)  http://bit.ly/pxUHdS

Crime in Oakland 2: Creating a Plan http://bit.ly/p2oDzJ

Crime in Oakland 3: Managing It All  http://bit.ly/nkEWIH

Editor's note: This opinion piece is part of the OL series on crime and public safety, "Eyes on the Street." Please email us at editor@oaklandlocal.com if you'd like to share your views on this topic.