Here in Oakland, we have less than a week before Barbara Lee is sworn in. We have a little more than six weeks—June 30, to be exact—before the City Council is required to approve the city’s budget for the next two years. As we all know, the current proposal—crafted by Kevin Jenkins—calls for huge cuts to OPD’s budget. Since Barbara Lee has stated that she fully supports those draconian cuts, and there’s no opposition to them on the City Council, we have to assume that OPD is facing a future where it will be impossible for them to keep us safe.
Well, argue progressives, crime is down in Oakland; don’t be a worry wort. True: but crime is down historically across the U.S., for reasons no one really understands. Oakland is simply benefiting from a national trend. We would be foolish to assume that the elements in Oakland that made us one of the most dangerous cities in America have gone away. They haven’t. For whatever reasons, they’re just not as active as they’ve been. That will certainly change, perhaps as early as this summer. If the Jenkins-Lee cuts weaken OPD to the extent we expect, the debate will simply resume by Fall: who bears responsibility to Oakland’s crime spree?
Certainly the criminals themselves are the main culprits. A city that has allowed deviant behavior to go unchecked for decades can’t seriously expect safety to be guaranteed in the future. Every dollar that the Jenkins-Lee budget takes away from OPD empowers the criminal element in our city. These thugs aren’t stupid. If anything, they understand the streets better than you or I ever could. With insect cunning, they know exactly when threats to their illegal activities are high, and they react accordingly, ratcheting down their behavior. And they know when that threat is reduced, which allows them to rampage. These are clever individuals. It’s sad that, with such visceral intelligence, they choose lifestyles that practically guarantee them imprisonment, if not an early death. That’s part of the tragedy of criminality in Oakland.
If we have another season of murder like we did in in 2021-2023, the public will be very upset. Even if other crimes are down, the murder rate captures people’s attention and defines the perception of Oakland. And there’s no reason to expect that this summer’s murder rate will not be on the high side. So our progressive politicians are already preparing their defenses. Barbara Lee will say it’s not her fault because she’s only been in office for a few months. Kevin Jenkins—so ambitious—will come up with some nonsense that no one takes seriously, but his pretty face will make it sound plausible. The Oakland Police union will continue to protest the disrespect and lack of support they get from the city, but no one will pay attention. Maniacs like Pamela Price and Cat Brooks will insist that murder is up because Oakland doesn’t invest enough money in “the community.” And the public, apathetic and baffled as usual, will be left to sort through all the competing claims.
When you’ve been reporting on Oakland as long as I have, you begin to see the patterns. Nothing ever really changes. The politicians bamboozle the voters, the voters willingly consent to being bamboozled, the media never dares to expose the lies and corruption because they’re part of the same dirty system, the good people of Oakland continue to suffer, and the city itself continues to bleed businesses and real estate value, the two engines that drive our economy.
So keep your eye on the murder rate. We’re going into the hot months. This is when the thugs roam the night streets with their ghost guns, shooting anyone they think is their enemy. Of course, innocent people get caught in the crossfire. Nobody cares about them, except their loved ones.
Steve Heimoff