Police understaffing affects all of Oakland
 

Neighborhoods in the Hills Lose Public Safety

The Claremont, north Montclair, and Hiller Highlands neighborhoods no longer enjoy public safety. As of a November date, crime reports made to OPD show big jumps:

A couple that lives near Montclair Elementary School knows of a pipe bomb, a robbery, a knife fight, and a hit-and-run around their home. Residents at a community meeting noted increasing litter, graffiti, noise and rowdy behavior, especially after hours in the parking lot of the same school and at nearby Montclair Park.

As a result, residents have organized the North Hills Neighborhood Crime Prevention Council, hoping to use it as a channel for expressing the need to restore public safety to City officials.

Activists in the neighborhood crime prevention councils (NCPC) situated in the flatlands should applaud the people who recently formed the new NCPC.

Homes in most flatland districts are no longer inexpensive, and new residents paying property taxes on a $500,000 or $600,000 assessment, like long-time residents, experience the same things the north hills folks do: rising crime and inadequate police presence.

Although we all tend to take care of our immediate environs first, no NCPC clamoring for City Hall attention can succeed on its own. The resources are simply not there: Oakland has half a police department per population compared with Atlanta, Boston, Cleveland, and most major cities. We have fewer police per 10,000 residents than San Francisco and Los Angeles.

In addition, official Oakland has an attitude of making "culture" excuses for cars with booming stereos, open street dealing, sideshows, wrecking of public events, and disruptive party houses. There is no excuse for making the lives of innocent residents miserable. City leaders must draw the line. Yet the city council gave $1.5 million to a social agency that promotes "sideshow" culture. The disruptions are climbing into the hills. You are not an island.

Oakland needs at least 1,100 police. The city council needs to make a priority commitment and adopt a solid plan to get them. Let's unite around this demand so that every neighborhood enjoys peace.