Crime
With a rash of non-violent crimes occurring shortly after the layoff of 80 Oakland police officers—and after the police department changed its strategy for handling non-emergency crimes—some Upper Rockridge and Montclair residents have been calling another city’s police department for help: Piedmont’s.
Oakland City Attorney John Russo joined other law enforcement officials in front of Oakland City Hall today to declare support for the marijuana legalization initiative Proposition 19, which Russo argued would give Californians “a chance to take drugs off the street corners and out of the hands of children.”
At a Monday morning press conference, 12 community activists from anti-violence, religious and crime prevention groups backed Council Member and mayoral candidate Jean Quan in promoting Measure BB, a public safety measure that will appear on the November city ballot.
Over 300 people convened at Scott’s Seafood Restaurant in downtown Oakland on Saturday night, to attend the 23rd annual gala of the Organization of Chinese Americans-East Bay (OCA-East Bay). In addition to featuring Asian American athletes the group presented $75,000 to the widow and son of Tiansheng Yu, the victim of a fatal attack on the 1800 block of Telegraph Avenue in Oakland this April.
A coalition of law enforcement agencies has arrested four Nuestra Familia gang leaders and 30 gang members. Several of those caught were allegedly given orders to commit murder and other violent crimes by imprisoned gang leaders who sent them encrypted messages via cell phones.
The Oakland Police Department is offering a $15,000 reward for information in connection to the killing of 13-year-old Jimon Clark, who was shot to death Wednesday.
The front page of the San Fransisco Chronicle today told the story of 13-year-old Jimon Clark, an East Oakland teen, shot and killed Wednesday night while doing an errand with his brother. Jimon was days away from starting at Skyline High where he had enrolled in the architecture program, according to the article. The Chronicle article also reported that some in the police union said there has already been a rise in crime since 80 officers were laid-off in July….
What happens when you shine a high-powered laser pointer at a plane cruising through the sky? Well, you can disorient the pilot, and according to the San Jose Mercury News, it happens so often that there’s a name for it: “laser strikes.” In fact, Oakland Airport ranks fourth in the nation in incidents of laser strikes, and San Jose Airport comes in fifth. There haven’t been any crashes caused by laster strikes, but some incidents during landings have forced pilots…
Placard fraud costs the city income in meters and parking tickets. Furthermore, because cars bearing placards have unlimited time and don’t need to be moved every hour or two, fraud prevents parking turnover; that can severely limit parking options for everyone, disabled or not.