Police
In the last few years, the Temescal District has been heralded as one of the most culturally diverse communities in the city. Its growing popularity has resulted in increased interest from business owners and residents who are vying for a space within the community. But over the last few months, the number of robberies and thefts that have been reported to the Temescal Telegraph Avenue Community Association and the Temescal Merchants’ Association has shown an increase, the members of those associations say, leaving local merchants frustrated and asking for more help from the police and the city.
The Oakland Police Department has announced plans to adjust its operations and hire a full-time Information Technology manager after a recent audit of its technology department found that the city spent nearly $2 million on failed policing information technology projects with at least three Bay Area start-ups that have since gone out of business.
At least 535 illegal firearms have been recovered in Oakland since the beginning of the year amid calls by civic groups and members of council for the city prioritize the eradication of illicit firearms and reduce the prevalence of gun crimes.
The tent city at Lakeview Elementary School has been dismantled. At 4 a.m. Oakland Unified School District police and other law enforcement officers raided the encampment where parents, teachers, and community activist had been sleeping for two weeks in an effort to protest the district’s decision to close five elementary schools.
An accident that injured his police dog a few years ago convinced Officer Mike Chicas of the importance of learning emergency care skills. “As much as we get first aid and CPR training on humans, this is the first time in my 8 years as a handler that I’ve gotten it for my K-9 partner,” he said. “Why wouldn’t I want to know how to patch him up in an emergency?”
In an effort to get more illegal guns off the streets of Oakland, the city’s police department is now collaborating with the federal government. Oakland Police officers have been partnering with agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) on a four-month campaign that targeted robbery crews responsible for much of the violent crime in the city, OPD Chief Howard Jordan said at a press conference on Tuesday morning at the Ronald V. Dellums Federal Building.
Brandy Martell, 37, a Hayward resident, was killed in downtown Oakland early Sunday morning. Martell, who identified as transsexual, was in her car at the corner of Franklin and 13th Streets in Oakland’s city center when she was shot repeatedly through the window and side door. Hers was one of three murders in the city that night.
Is Oakland Mayor Jean Quan’s 100-block crime initiative working to reduce the city’s debilitating crime problem, or is it just moving city resources to one part of the city, as crime spreads to areas where there are now fewer officers?
The Oakland Police Department announced Thursday that officers had raided a commercial building in East Oakland and seized approximately $1 million worth of marijuana as well as a stash of weapons and body armor.