Teens Did NOT Rob for Food

Three teens charged with dozens of violent robberies in north Oakland and on Piedmont Avenue did not rob for food, despite a headline in the Oakland Tribune. As the Montclarion reported:

The boys said they robbed people "for food and other things," according to police Sgt. George Phillips. However, Phillips said he spoke with the parents of the suspects and they appeared to be living comfortably. "They weren't starving," he said. (Montclarion, Feb. 17, 2006)

The Oakland Tribune created a sense of tragedy by falsely asserting that the boys, ages 14, 16, and 16, were beating and robbing for food.

The entanglement of crime and poverty has confused many well-meaning Oakland residents. They would like to believe that anti-poverty programs will also pay a dividend in reduced crime.

Most poor people are not criminals. In fact, they are crime victims to a high degree.

Nor is it clear that most criminals are poor. Their tax-free takings often put them in a lower-middle income stratum.

Whatever the exact connection of crime and poverty, Oakland cannot dent the latter with city programs. The councilmembers who shovel grants to their allies in social agencies are not radical advocates for economic justice in American life. They are petty politicians who give more priority to political pork than to any residents of Oakland, both criminals and their victims. The same councilmembers ran Oakland's police department down to half size.

Because of the wave of robberies and other crimes, 150 residents packed a Feb. 4 community meeting called by councilmember Jane Brunner. They testified to the lack of public safety as criminals operate with slim chance of being deterred or apprehended by Oakland's understaffed police department.

The officer who caught the robbers, Debbie Mack, is normally a problem-solving officer who does community policing work. However, she was put on overtime doing patrol surveillance. We have been told that officer Mack is only one of several police assigned to saturate the north Oakland area with patrols until the robbers were caught.

Saturation patrolling is one tool available to a fully staffed police department. It happened in north Oakland only after councilmember Brunner felt too much political heat. Similar violent robberies have plagued the Maxwell Park district, but they have not obtained similar police response. Since the department is understaffed, necessary patrol becomes an exception, a luxury doled out as much by political clout as by any measure of need. Councilmember Brooks' constituents get less service than councilmember Brunner's.

Brunner participated in the hiring freeze imposed for years on the police department until late 2004. If she wants credit for addressing this series of robberies, she should take responsibility for the severe understaffing of OPD, too.