Not Hit by Stray Bullet Yet,
Residents Write to Council

In what police suspect were related slayings, three men were fatally shot in East Oakland within nine hours Saturday, including two slain at different times at almost the same site. – Oakland Tribune, July 1

A week later, at 3:20 p.m. on a Sunday afternoon in Brookdale Park, a shooter opened fire, spraying at least ten bullets from a semi-automatic weapon. According to a neighbor, the target was the brother of a man killed in the incidents a week earlier, but the shooter had no hesitation about letting loose in daylight in a park.

We present two letters written after the first weekend but before the second weekend. Then we post a reply from council president Ignacio De La Fuente.

To our illustrious Oakland city council:

I live near High and Fairfax. That's right – the area that just experienced the shootings. Again.

Gangsta shrine on Fairfax Residents say it adds fuel to the gang war. Inset lower right: Liquor carton on sidewalk. Not shown: Dense graffiti all over sidewalk. Click photo for full-size image (3 MB).

The Oakland Police Department has made heroic efforts with only half of the staff it needs. The Oakland city government on the other hand has all of the staff it needs. Unfortunately it has none of the political will to hire the necessary police.

Maybe I can help! Please join me in a brief mental exercise...

Try to imagine that you live a block or two from an apartment building. Imagine that every day as you drive your kids home you see drug dealing and aggressive loitering in front of said property. You call in faithfully to the OPD non-emergency line to give locations, descriptions and every detail you can without approaching and interviewing the thugs. Despite all of this, the activity is allowed to continue with little interference. Occasionally the activity attracts rival thugs who perform a drive-by, who in the process of thinning their own numbers spray the surrounding homes with stray bullets. Imagine the surrounding homes were your homes and you knew that your kids were at risk. A stretch for many of you, I know, but please bear with me.

Would you try to move? (Here's where it may get a bit tricky for some of our council folks.) Imagine that you were unable to sell your home due to the perception of violence in your area. It's a buyers' market, especially here in Oakland outside of Montclair, Rockridge and the hills.

What if you lived and spent your days in an area in which daily criminal behavior had an immediate effect upon your safety? Would you empathize a bit more with the rest of us here in Oakland? Would you perhaps stop frittering away our tax dollars on useless feel-good social programs and rewards to your political contributors? Or would you spend the money to hire the 1100 police that Oakland needs?

Regards,

Kurt in Beat 27X

Another Resident Writes

(Marcela followed up on Kurt's letter with this searing indictment.)

From: A Melrose/Maxwell park homeowner
To: community and officials

It is no coincidence that there are six homes for sale on Fairfax Ave in the expanse of four blocks.

It is no coincidence that Oakland has proportionally more homes for sale than any other surrounding city

It is simply its crime rate. People don't want to be caught in the gun fire.

Those of us with jobs that must be kept in order to afford the mortgage, car payment, groceries; those of us with families that we want to come home to; those of us that envision a future with our loved ones; those of us who want to walk our dogs and say hello to our neighbors did not sign up to play Russian roulette in the residential neighborhoods of Oakland.

We pay mighty high taxes, follow the rules, invest our savings in buying Oakland property, support our local businesses with the expectation that we may be able to come home and not have to rearrange our floor plan and move our living room to the back room in order to avoid drive-by shooting bullets!

What should we write in the BBQ invitation to our families and friends: Please Bring Your Own Bullet-Proof Vest?

How should the real state agents present Maxwell park and Melrose to prospective buyers? Just wait for the next shooting, then you can probably afford to buy the whole block!

We have moved beyond concerned to plain anger, frustration, despair, ... We are losing the battle of balance. You our representatives have failed us, failed Oakland, and shut down the gates for the peaceful coexistence of a diverse group of people. You have forsaken this city by condemning it to hold only those who either actively participate in the mass killings, or who turn their back away for fear of retaliation and are planning their escape. As individuals, I have seen many of you using your time in office to walk the walk, as individuals we are proud to see you in the trenches, as an entity we are not proud.

The police response to the two Fairfax killings only confirmed our neglect. In the voice of one of the police "responders": "Don't worry, this is just welfare road." Should that be our banner? Can more insult be added to injury? You have engineers, mail carriers, teachers, entrepreneurs, musicians, blue collar workers, stay-at-home parents, mortgage brokers, retirees, and lots of students in our blocks. If the perception had been more educated, the response would have been more immediate, respectful, caring?

Before the area turns into what may have been, you must have a direct response, just like the way in which you responded to the Lake Merrit area thefts. Where are our angels? [She refers to the Guardian Angels, actually invited by residents, not by City officials. -ed.]

Why haven't you walked the premise of the shootings to assure us of our safety? Where are our beat cops? Our foot patrol? How come the Fairfax and High street drug dealing corner hasn't been cleared out for good in over 30 years? Why did our kids have to see a dead man on the street? Or is it that you too also see us as "just welfare road"?

Marcela

Councilmember De La Fuente Replies

Dear residents of beats 27X and 27Y:

I am in receipt of the numerous emails regarding the situation on Fairfax Ave. While this is not in my district, I felt the need to send a response to all of you who took the time to send an email describing what is happening in your neighborhood. I have to say that I completely understand your frustration. Just this past Saturday, I dealt with the same situation at the corner of my house, drug dealing, loitering and slow police response.

The process for hiring officers is a slow one but meanwhile, I do believe there are things we can do to get more officers on the streets. I have been working with our mayor for several weeks to get the officers out of the airport and onto our streets and we need to ensure that it really happens. We need to put more pressure on the Chief of Police and on our Mayor to ensure that those officers at the airport really hit the streets of our city and also work on getting cops out of working at the Coliseum.

I will work persistently on my end to keep the pressure on the Mayor and to stress the importance to him of hiring more officers as I do believe they are needed. The money to hire the additional officers is there so money is not the issue. It's a matter of getting the hiring done in a timely fashion, something which the Chief and the Mayor have control over.

Sincerely,
Ignacio

(The "process for hiring officers is a slow one" because the City budget has not set a goal of at least 1,100 officers, only 802. Furthermore, the City did not get serious about hiring for more than a year after Measure Y passed. Precious time was lost, until the historic "Enough Is Enough!" protest in Feb. 2006 stirred the council to authorize real recruiting. Still, potential recruits can see they would be joining a department that is understaffed as a matter of City policy. – ORPN)