Gun violence
On Sunday, Councilmembers Pat Kernighan (District 2) and Libby Schaaf (District 4) hosted a lecture by crime expert Franklin Zimring about New York City’s crime reduction successes and how Oakland could implement the same strategies to tackle crime.
More than 700 people filled the gymnasium at Laney College on Saturday for the Neighborhood Safety Summit, a day of discussions about crime and violence in Oakland hosted by Mayor Jean Quan, who presented a new crime reduction plan that she said will focus on the city’s most violent streets.
Despite the controversial nature of gang injunctions, the City of Oakland is considering implementing additional injunctions throughout the city.
City Council’s Public Safety Committee approved a contract renewal during a meeting on Tuesday to install a new version of the sound monitors that would help police pinpoint gunshots in Oakland. With the Shotspotter technology, the Oakland Police Department will receive notifications of gunshots and explosives through devices installed on rooftops across the city.
A man was killed and another man was left in critical condition in a shooting on Wednesday morning on the 800 block of 52nd Street, two blocks down from Children’s Hospital.
About 600 people marched from Allen Temple Baptist Church in East Oakland to City Hall to protest crime and violence in Oakland on Saturday. Soldiers Against Violence Everywhere, a community and church coalition, organized the march and rally as a response to the 75 homicides reported in the city from January to August, 2011.
During a tense meeting near Oakland’s downtown last week, residents of the 23rd Street and Telegraph area voiced their concerns over recent violence at the Para Diso Lounge. On the community meeting agenda was a shooting on Saturday, August 27, which left the neighborhood shaken and two cars riddled with bullets. But previous incidents related to the club added to residents’ concerns over the Para Diso’s place in their neighborhood.