Blog Post
News & Press Releases
Oakland gun violence surges as police struggle with cuts
Jan 31, 2021
As disturbing as Oakland’s rising homicide rate is, the numbers tell only part of the story.
Oakland has had 14 homicides since the start of the year — that compares with a single homicide during the same time period last year.
If the homicides continue at the current rate, Oakland is looking at 168 homicides by the end of the year. In 2020 there were 102, and in 2019 there were 75.
The numbers are shocking, but they pale when compared with the number of people wounded.
According to statistics from Oakland’s Highland Hospital trauma unit, which handles most of the gunshot cases in Alameda County and some from Contra Costa County, 50 gunshot cases have been treated there so far this this year — at least one shooting a day.
Highland treated 415 gunshot cases last year and 283 in 2019.
On Jan. 23, a Saturday night, more than 1,000 vehicles roared through the streets of Oakland in illegal sideshows. The city’s ShotSpotter system recorded more than 200 rounds being fired in 39 incidents between 4 p.m. Saturday and 2 a.m. Sunday.
Given the recent cutbacks in police overtime and the dismantling of the traffic and sideshow squads to save money, Oakland had a reduced staffing of 42 officers and supervisors on patrol for the entire city Saturday night.
“All this is set against a backdrop of over $20 million in cuts from the Police Department this year, including all the overtime that went to enforcement operations like sideshow and violent crime operations,” interim Oakland Police Chief Susan Manheimer said.
Oakland City Council member Loren Taylor, whose east side district has been one of the hardest hit by the violence this year, said people don’t need to be shot to be wounded.
“You have the people in the neighborhoods who are not involved in this, but they still have to live with the trauma of bullets flying and shattered glass in their kid’s rooms,” Taylor said. “It has a devastating impact on all of their lives.”
Oakland Police Officers' Association
All Rights Reserved.
Site by Value-Centered Solutions