Staffing of sworn officers in Oakland’s Police Department has been problematical for many years. During the five years that Measure Y has been in effect, there has been only one brief period, of less than one year, when Oakland actually had 803 sworn officers - one of the main goals of Measure Y and funded by its incremental property tax increase.

When drive-by shooters sprayed bullets into a funeral service at an East Oakland church in April, crisis response workers jumped into action – lunging across pews to shield young children from random bullets, pulling the grieving mother from the mayhem and carrying babies out of harm's way.

According to the FBI's Preliminary Annual Uniform Crime Report, crime in the city of Oakland decreased from 2008 to 2009. Overall violent crime was down 14.1 percent, while homicide was down 9.6 percent. This was reflected in the overall homicide rate for 2009, which was 110.

On Tuesday night, Oakland City Council held a progress report session, an emotional public forum, and a discussion about the future of Measure Y.  It was a chance for the public to hear and speak about what Measure Y has accomplished and what it has meant to the community .

This is the index to Oakland Local's complete May 2010 series on youth trafficking, a growing problem in Oakland, Calif.

This is Part 2 of an eight-part, four-day Oakland Local investigative series on youth sex trafficking. Continued from Part 1.

Who is this "commodity" being traded on the street? Statistically she is a 13-year-old girl who has run away from an abusive parent, guardian or foster home. Too young to fend for herself as a runaway, she ends up under the control of a pimp who promises to take care of her. Then the trafficker turns on her and, either by emotional manipulation or physical threat, gets the girl to work the streets to bring in money. 

"These are children who have never known love, so they look for love in all the wrong places," said Alameda County Deputy District Attorney Sharmin Eshraghi Bock, who has directed 148 cases against people alleged to have sold teenagers and children for sex. "All the pimp has to say is, 'Baby I love you and some day I want to have a family with you but today I'm short of cash. Can you help me make the rent?'" Bock continued. 

by Barbara Grady

This begins our eight-part, four-day Oakland Local investigative series on youth sex trafficking.

It's nearly midnight on a Thursday and teen-age girls are on every corner of International Boulevard in the dozen blocks stretching south from 41st Street. Many are dressed up. But this is not prom night or a concert letting out.

Some have bruises on their bodies; some are pregnant. Not far from any one of them is a sex trafficker who stands to make $500 a night from each girl he or she controls. Recruited with promises of love, or sometimes simply kidnapped, the girls are then put out on the streets.

These girls are commodities in a slave trade that is rampant in Oakland and similar cities across America, law enforcement and social workers say -- one that's growing with the recession. It's a trade in which adolescents peddle their flesh to make money for pimps in exchange for food, shelter and affection. Some are held against their will and continue the work to avoid getting beat up or tortured.

by Sarah Terry-Cobo

This is Part 6 of an eight-part, four-day Oakland Local investigative series on youth sex trafficking.

The Oakland Police Department believes it must arrest girls involved in prostitution to get them off the streets for their own safety. Without a safe residential treatment facility, officers say, juvenile hall presents a better alternative than leaving them on the streets.

"We used to just warn them and let them stay out on the streets," said Vice Unit Investigator Jim Saleda during one of the department's operations. "I learned my lesson when I found the body of one of the girls a week later, mutilated in Mosswood Park."

Some fierce advocates in the Bay Area are working to change laws that punish young victims, in addition to providing services to exploited young women...

This is Part 3 of an eight-part, four-day Oakland Local investigative series on youth sex trafficking. Continued from Part 1 and Part 2.

Recession slices with a double-edged sword into efforts to rescue young victims of sex trafficking from the streets. On the one hand, joblessness and foreclosures at levels higher than have been seen in a generation are pounding families, bringing out stresses and conflicts that cause youth to run away.

On the other hand, the recession has taken away resources to help troubled and homeless youth – as well as reduced resources for arresting traffickers.

A resource guide for Oakland Local's May 2010 8-part series on youth sex trafficking.

Many organizations are fighting the scourge of human trafficking of youth in California and around the United States. Know where to call if you see trouble or need help, and please support these organizations:

One day after the Oakland Police Department launched its campaign against robberies between Lake Merritt and High Street, police caught up with four youths fingered in at least three robberies, police reported.

Police officer Rojas spotted the four teens April 15 trying to rob someone after noticing them earlier in the day in the 2700 block of Foothill Boulevard, poli

The Oakland Police Department welcomed 22 new trainees Monday.

This is another step being taken to reach the goal of 803 officers. The trainees will attend the department’s police academy, which will begin with orientations and will run until November.