Attempted Break-In, Neighborhood Left Vulnerable

A resident of north Oakland reports to an email list: "My housemate was home alone at 1:45 p.m. Sunday when the perp busted out our front window and tried to unlock the door. Our small terrier did nothing to deter them, but when our boxer came running in for backup, the perp took off. We can only speculate what would have happened if we did not have dogs and my housemate had come in from the backyard to see what was going on."

The pair of tenants had asked the landlord for a security door, but he chose instead to put bars over the windows on the door. The thief was able to reach between the bars, knock out a window, and unlock the door from inside.

The depolicing of Oakland comes through in this part of the resident's account: "A woman was home alone, yet police dispatch opted to talk fast and mail out a form to be filled out and mailed back in." As the resident notes, routine response should include "sending out an officer to circle a few blocks in the neighborhood in order to deter more break-ins." That did not happen, because "there are not enough police on the streets and the 12-hour shift obviously isn't working."

Oakland has only half a police department. We need at least 1,100 officers in this city of 400,000 residents.