Crime down in Oakland—hooray, but…

OPD put out a press release yesterday and it’s good news. Crime overall is down 29% from a year ago. Violent crime is down 22%. We all fall to our knees and thank the heavens for this respite from our recent past.

The news is so recent that Barbara Lee hasn’t even had time yet to take credit for it; no doubt she will, perhaps even by the time you read this. She’ll brag about how she and her progressive regime instituted certain programs that have brought about this wonderful event.

However, in the interests of Truth, I have to stick a pin into Lee’s hubris. Crime is down in almost every city across America—in fact, it’s down significantly in 31 of 35 cities tracked by the Council on Criminal Justice. Here are some of the biggest decreases, where homicide is down by double digits:

Denver -41%

Washington, DC -40%

Omaha -40%

Los Angeles -36%

Buffalo -35%

Albuquerque -33%

Long Beach -32%

Atlanta -32%

Baltimore -31%

Norfolk -31%

Salt Lake City -29%

Dallas -27%

Austin -26%

Memphis -25%

New York -22%

Louisville -22%

Nashville-Davidson -22%

San Francisco -22%

Minneapolis -21%

Detroit -21%

Chandler AZ -20%

San Antonio -19%

Philadelphia -18%

Lincoln -16%

Chattanooga -16%

St. Louis -11%

Significant decreases also were notable in almost all other crimes.

Now, last I checked, Barbara Lee was not mayor of any of these other cities. Not to be snarky, but common sense tells us there have got to be other reasons, besides Ceasefire or the Department of Violence Prevention or MACRO, why crime is down everywhere. What are those other reasons?

My research suggests a number of possible factors: the “informal guardianship” of the citizenry, which nearly disappeared during the pandemic, has returned, making it harder for thugs to get away with crap in the streets. Technology, such as FLOCK cameras, facial recognition and license plate readers, DNA analysis even in cold cases, and the shift away from paper money (which makes robbery less common), also help a lot. Biden’s American Rescue Plan Act and Newsom’s assistance to Oakland also have lent a hand locally. Trump touts his personal impact on the nation—his alpha-male posturing and war on illegal immigrants, in particular, although we know that undocumented persons have never been a major source of criminal behavior, which is overwhelmingly homegrown. The shift in the street away from cocaine/crack toward fentanyl and heroin may have led to more timid or relaxed lawbreaking on the part of a soporific criminal class. Some have postulated the reduction in lead in gasoline, others new gun control procedures despite opposition from Republicans. And let us not forget that hundreds of thousands of bad people are now in prison, which makes it impossible for them to prey on society—at least, unless and until some progressive D.A. lets them go free.

It may well be that no one really knows or will know until decades have passed, by which time historians and sociologists may have deciphered the reasons. But whatever the causes, we know two things: (1) we can be thankful for it, and (2) it really has little or nothing to do with local policies.

As far as I’m concerned, the rise in violent crime over the decades in our cities, including Oakland, was a direct result of the takeover of local government by cop-hating, “equity”-minded progressives, who went “soft” on crime due to ideological and racial perversity. The crime decrease may be related to the cultural revolt against such leftwing nonsense, and, if that’s true, Trump does get some of the credit. Americans may just have grown sick and tired of crime, and individually and collectively began resisting it, which filtered down into every neighborhood, every church and schoolroom, every family. This, if true, would be a fantastic blessing.

At the same time, we have to keep up the pressure on the left, which—unleashed as they wish to be—would simply revert to their old practices of letting criminals off the hook and persecuting the police. Here in Oakland, you know as well as I that there are regressive, reprobate forces looking to end this respite from crime. We know who they are: I don’t have to tell you because I’ve named them for years. Let us please elect and support candidates who seem like they’re sane enough to support law enforcement, even if that means standing up to the corrupt unions and their dirty money.

Steve Heimoff

A personal message from me to one of the leading cop haters in Oakland

From the invaluable Rajni Mandal, who keeps us informed about the sordid doings at the Police Commission.

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Interim Chief Beere's credibility questioned

by Rajni Mandal

A public comment by Mariano Contreras, vocal advocate from the Coalition for Police Accountability, was highlighted and sent to the commission's Chief Search Ad Hoc Committee to ask him during the interview:

“I would like to ask Acting Chief Beere to please tell us about his personal reactions, actions, or opinions regarding the department's misconduct during the 1990s that led to the negotiated settlement agreement and the many backsliding ill acts after that.

This is important because he is a 25 year veteran that has seen many things in the department and now is applying to be the permanent chief. What approach and playbook is he bringing to truly change the culture and establish constitutional policing to Oakland?”

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[This is me, Steve] Dear Mr. Contreras, I would like to ask what were your personal reactions, actions or opinions on March 21, 2009, when four Oakland Police Officers were wantonly murdered by the homicidal maniac, Lovelle Mixon. What are your personal reactions, actions and opinions when you visit the “Officer Down” Memorial at the Oakland Police Department (on 455 Seventh Street, in case you’ve never been), where the names of 54 slain OPD officers are memorialized in holy dignity forever?

I would like to know your personal reactions, actions and opinions when Officer Tuan Le was slaughtered on Dec. 28, 2023 by a band of killer thugs? Did you ever offer your condolences to Officer Le’s family, Mr. Contreras?

Mr. Contreras, you are the problem in Oakland. You have made it your life’s mission to harass, ridicule and smear the Oakland Police Department and, quite frankly, all police departments across the country. What a pathetic and useless waste of time. And how pathetic that Barbara Lee and Loren Taylor are among your followers. There is one reason only why Oakland is not worse off than it already is: We still have hundreds of brave, selfless defenders of our safety and freedom, the men and women of OPD who don the uniform every day to protect people like you.

How dare you, Mr. Contreras, to blatantly troll our cops? Every time a sworn police officer in America has to desperately resort to physically stopping a thug from continuing a crime spree against innocent human beings, you post a fatwa on social media against them. You rant and rail that “Law enforcement and U.S. government officials must be held accountable.” For what—protecting public safety? Standing up to maniacs? Doing their jobs? Defending their own and their colleagues’ lives?

Here’s another question, Mr. Contreras: Have you ever addressed the criminal element in Oakland that makes life so hard for everyone, especially those in minority neighborhoods? Have you ever criticized their gun-worshipping violence, their lack of morality, the indecent way they prey on normal people through robbery, theft, mugging, bipping? What are your personal reactions, actions and opinions to people behaving like animals? Have you ever been mugged or robbed or had your car broken into? Did you call the police? Knowing that you are severely biased against the police, what approach and playbook are you bringing to truly change the culture of a crime-ridden, broken city whose leadership seems hell-bent on inflicting further damage?

And a final question, Mr. Contreras. Have you no sense of decency?

Steve Heimoff