A lifelong Oakland resident has made the heartbreaking decision to leave the city after rising crime rates made her “too scared” to go outside.
Kristin Cook, 48, spoke for many in Oakland as she sobbed, “I can’t take it anymore.” “I got to the point where I was too scared to leave my house.”
“The fact that I’m being pushed out because I can’t take it emotionally anymore is horrifying,” she added.
According to police, the city’s burglary rate is up 41 percent year-on-year and robberies are up more than 20 percent. Rape offenses have also increased by 12 percent.
The dire situation was also highlighted earlier this month when the Oakland branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People declared the city a state of emergency.
Kristin Cook, 48, spoke for many in Oakland as she sobbed, “I can’t take it anymore.” I got to the point where I was too scared to leave my house.
According to police, the city’s burglary rate is up 41 percent year-on-year and robberies are up more than 20 percent. Rape offenses have also increased by 12 percent
A letter co-signed by branch president Cynthia Adams said, “There is nothing compassionate or progressive about allowing criminal behavior to take root and deprive Oakland residents of their fundamental rights to public safety.”
Cook told CNN the decision was “very difficult” … especially [for] “My son,” but ultimately they no longer feel safe in a city of around 450,000 where crime has skyrocketed since Covid.
The NAACP’s letter partially blamed the defunding of the police movement and the soft-spoken district attorney for the rise in crime. Adams called on local officials to band together to address the city’s mounting public safety issues.
She co-authored the letter with Bishop Bob Jackson of Acts Full Gospel Church.
“It is neither racist nor unkind to want to be safe from crime.” “No one should live in fear in our city,” they wrote.
The neighbor of a recently murdered victim said police told her to invest in “steel braces” for her front door. Toni Bird, whose neighbor Dave Schneider was shot while tending the lawn, already has a locked front gate and five surveillance cameras.
The President of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People in Oakland, Cynthia Adams, has declared a state of emergency because of rising crime in the region
Community leaders singled out District Attorney Pamela Price for speaking out about rising crime
Police also urged her to invest in “air horns” that she could use to alert neighbors if her home was under attack.
The 60-year-old tailor was shot dead on June 19 while working in his front yard in broad daylight. The killer has not been identified.
Oakland City Councilman Kevin Jenkins said, “It’s absolutely heartbreaking that someone could just be gardening and get murdered in their own home.”
“The message to the Oaklanders: ‘Oh, you gotta be careful about gardening, washing your car and checking the mail.’ It’s absolutely insane and the neighbors don’t have it anymore.” We will not be prisoners in our own communities. “We must stand up against those who are causing harm in our community,” Jenkins said.
But Bird, who moved to the city two and a half years ago, said she plans to stay in Oakland and fight to fight the crime wave.
“I’m not looking for the perfect safe place,” she told CNN. “I’m looking for a place where older women and children aren’t being targeted.” I think we can all agree that this needs to change. And that’s why I feel like everything is going to change, and that’s why I’m staying.”
The NAACP letter also targets Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price and anti-police rhetoric such as the Defund the Police movement, which they wrote “created a heyday for Oakland criminals” and a “cycle of doom.” ‘ while the city ‘survives’. turn down.’
Oakland police have urged residents to secure their homes as brazen burglaries increase while residents are in their homes
In July, British maritime security officer Satyan Dave, 49, was shot dead near a park in Oakland while returning to a container ship he had been working on after a night’s sleep
The NAACP wrote: “Failed leadership, including the movement to cut police funding, our District Attorney’s unwillingness to indict and prosecute people who commit murder and life-threatening serious crimes, and the proliferation of anti-police rhetoric have ravaged Oakland criminals a heyday.”
“If there are no consequences for committing crimes in Oakland, crime will continue to increase.”
Price’s office responded to the allegations, saying the prosecutor was “disappointed that a major African American pastor and organization would make a misrepresentation on such an important matter.”
“We would expect more from Bishop Bob Jackson and the Oakland Chapter of the NAACP,” Price’s office said.
Police warned of a “surge in burglaries,” including instances of gun-armed robbers kicking down doors before threatening homeowners and stealing their belongings.
The Oakland Police Department (OPD) said some of the hardest-hit areas were Laurel, North Hills, Joaquin Miller and the greater San Antonio area.
Last year, then-Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf admitted efforts to defund her city’s police force “went too far” after violent crime rose to levels after the movement’s inception in the summer of 2020. which has not been observed for 15 years.
Oakland police have been sued over allegations that they had an abusive squatter launch a campaign of terror against his neighbor that culminated in the victim being shot. Jamal Thomas pictured
Her comments came after the City Council passed a resolution in 2021 to cut its police department’s funding by $17 million despite a 90 percent spike in homicides — a move criticized by Oakland Police Sheriff LeRonne Armstrong, who back then said, “Crime is over.” “Control” in the city.
In July, British maritime security officer Satyan Dave, 49, was shot dead near a park in Oakland while returning to the container ship he had been working on after a night’s sleep.
Dave, from London, had arrived in the city hours earlier aboard a container ship that had sailed near Somalia.
Police in the violence-stricken city said he was shot at 5:15 a.m. near International Boulevard, one of East Oakland’s main thoroughfares.
Oakland Police Department also last month urged residents to secure their homes — including trimming hedges and shrubs so thieves have nowhere to hide — as brazen break-ins have increased.
Police in the California city warned of a “surge in burglaries,” including instances of gun-armed robbers kicking down doors before threatening homeowners and stealing their belongings.
The Oakland Police Department (OPD) said some of the hardest-hit areas were Laurel, North Hills, Joaquin Miller and the greater San Antonio area.
“In recent cases, armed individuals forcibly entered homes by kicking down doors, threatening victims and taking the victim’s personal belongings before fleeing the home,” police said.
Shocking footage shows a car being set on fire while another vehicle crashes into the car and firecrackers are projected across the streets of Oakland as the excitement mounts
A video showed a local resident throwing a red bucket at a car while it was making a donut. The driver responded by skidding to a halt, then jumped out of his car and violently attacked the man
The agency was recently sued over allegations that it had used an abusive squatter to launch a campaign of terror against his neighbor, which culminated in the victim being shot while fleeing his home with his pregnant wife and three children.
The wrongful death lawsuit was filed in federal court on behalf of the family of murdered Miles Armstead, who was moving his family out of their Ney Avenue home in May 2020 when he was shot in the back of the head by now-incarcerated Jamal Thomas.
Her family has previously called the Oakland Police Department 23 times begging for help, but officers there allegedly turned a blind eye.
The crime wave has also been highlighted by shocking scenes at illegal side events where would-be street racers gather on residential streets for meetings that often turn violent.
The Fast and Furious-inspired events regularly draw hundreds of people to watch drag drivers pull off extreme donuts on the street. Amidst the chaos of vehicles spinning out of control at 50mph while onlookers dodge, residents driven insane by the events clash with the revelers in ugly scenes.
Dozens of fights were caught on camera, and vehicles were set on fire and rammed by other drivers attempting to abandon the race.
Meanwhile, local police have been criticized for failing to deal with the crime that threatens to engulf the west coast city.