Violent Crime in Oakland

by Jean Quan

I know from walking and talking to neighbors on every street in our district that the safest communities are well organized and have positive activities for youth. At our May rally in Sacramento against education cuts, the mother of a recent murder victim reminded us that to stop violence, we must give our children hope and decent education. We need both short- and long-term strategies. As your councilmember, I will:

Increase After-School and Teen Programs

Crime goes down 30 to 40 percent in cities with good after-school programs. In the next few years our teen population will increase dramatically. We need to stop the recruitment of our youth into the gangs and drugs that are at the heart of most the recent murders and crime. I will:

Prioritize permanent program directors for all Recreation Centers. Allendale, Redwood Heights, and Montclair have none.

Work to restore a citywide after-school playground supervisors program to all schools.

Work to open teen centers. This summer I worked with the schools, police, transit authorities, and merchants to reroute student bussing to reduce concentrations along MacArthur. For now, the situation is improved, but the real problem is finding safe alternative places for teens to gather.

Most youth violence happens after school. I will expand on my work to provide safe passage to and from school, including crossing guards, parent patrols, and monitoring hot spots like 35th and MacArthur.

Expand student-led programs against drugs and violence.

Strengthen Community Policing

I opposed the city's elimination of beat officers and attempts to cut the Neighborhood Police Service Coordinators. I will:

Increase Neighborhood Police Service Coordinators and support Neighborhood Crime Prevention Councils.

Hire multilingual staff, who will help neighborhoods organize block associations, Home Alert, and other groups.

Increase beat officers who walk and patrol specific neighborhoods.

I support the addition of police officers. Cities like Oakland generally have 700 to 800 officers; we have about 600. Because of the shortage, we spend too much on overtime, and too many assignments go uncovered daily.

Strengthen and Support Families

Cities with the highest unemployment and poverty have the highest murder rates. Oakland's unemployment rate is high, over 9 percent. We must:

Increase support to our schools. Programs that help kids graduate from high school reduce crime and violence. The city cut funding for paid student internships for high school career academies.

Provide parent training and family counseling where children show early signs of violence. The county, city, schools, churches, and community organizations need to cooperate on early interventions and mentoring.

Improve monitoring and collaboration for juveniles in the legal system. The criminal, social service, and school bureaucracies act separately, and youth fall between the cracks when released from juvenile detention.

Strengthen probation and job-training programs for newly released prisoners. Unless education, drug-rehabilitation, and job opportunities are developed for returning prisoners, the odds of their returning to crime are high. Police expect an increased number of prison releases over the next years.

Lastly, we must all reach out to meet our neighbors and build our communities based on mutual respect and understanding.