Oakland crime crisis met with calls for patience from Democrat mayor

Oakland residents who say their city has become a “war zone” want to see more police officers hired and the county’s soft-on-crime prosecutor fired. 

But the Democrat mayor of California’s crime capital is asking for patience in addressing the daily shootings and lootings that have become a fact of life for its citizens.

The city has seen increases in carjackings, weapons assaults and robberies so far this year, with the caught-on-camera robbery of a woman being pistol-whipped and dragged last week serving as the latest example of the chaos in Oakland.

Homicides have remained slightly below 2022 levels, but that ray of light may be flickering: Oakland witnessed four people killed in just two days earlier this week. Total violent crime is up 18% year-over-year.

Add in the disorder wrought by regular car break-ins, store burglaries and street racing crews who take over intersections with illegal “sideshows,” and residents are at wit’s end with the city’s leadership run by Mayor Sheng Thao.

“The voters are very upset about the crime that’s going on in Oakland… it’s very dangerous,” local NAACP chapter president Cynthia Adams told The Washington Times.

The organization brought national attention to Oakland’s plight last month by calling for a state of emergency to be declared over the city’s crime wave. Civil rights leaders said Oakland police were short 500 officers in their cry for help.

Ms. Thao responded to the NAACP’s request Tuesday by saying that she would “love to hear what their solutions are instead of just attacks.” 

She also defended her public safety response by saying the city’s crime woes are “not unique to Oakland.”

The facts tell a different story.

Oakland has the worst violent crime rate of any major city in California, the San Francisco Chronicle reported earlier this month. Even with the year-over-year dip in homicides, the number of slayings in 2023 is up 37% compared to what they were in 2019.  

Still, Ms. Thao, who only took office eight months ago, wants residents to give her more time to reverse the trend.

“That doesn’t happen overnight, unfortunately,” Ms. Thao said. “But I promise you that you will start seeing some of those results as we move forward towards next year.” 

Additional California Highway Patrol officers started working in the city earlier this month after Ms. Thao asked for support from Gov. Gavin Newsom. CHP said last week that it made two felony arrests during an eight-hour period, including detaining a suspected carjacker who had a stolen gun on him.

Whether that suspect will be convicted is up to Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price, another Democrat facing heat from constituents in her first year on the job.

Ms. Price has been vocal about seeking lenient sentences for violent criminals except in rare cases — and with the district attorney’s approval. Her office advised prosecutors earlier this year to treat probation as the default offer during plea negotiations.

The kid gloves used on hardened criminals sparked a recall effort that is slated to become official within weeks once the county registrar approves the paperwork.

The group behind the effort — Safe Alameda for Everyone, or SAFE — will have 160 days to get signatures from 10% of registered voters in Alameda County to put their recall vote on a ballot. That comes out to about 98,000 signatures.

Families of homicide victims added some juice to the recall push over the weekend by hosting a courthouse rally against Ms. Price.

Ana Tolentino pointed to her son’s killing in San Lorenzo last year where the now-convicted murderer, a 17-year-old at the time, was sentenced to just seven years in a juvenile facility earlier this summer.

That’s despite urging from the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office to charge Sergio Morales-Jacquez as an adult. The murderer, who has since turned 18, has been linked to two other slayings — a pair of high schoolers gunned down in Oakland last October, and another killing in Fremont.

Lorie Mohs is another family member who said Ms. Price is going easy on her son’s accused killer. Blake Mohs was gunned down by a shoplifter in April while he was working security at a Home Depot in Pleasanton.

Ms. Mohs said Ms. Price’s office removed a sentencing enhancement of death and discharge — which carries a max sentence of 25 to life in prison — from suspected shooter Benicia Knapps’ charges. Knapps, an ex-con, is still facing murder charges in the incident.

“She’s supposed to fight for the victims. She’s the victims’ advocate,” Ms. Mohs told The Times. “She acts more like she’s a defense attorney and a civil rights attorney.”

Ms. Price’s campaign arm criticized the recall effort last month as a “page out of the January 6th playbook,” saying the effort is a politically motivated hit job.

“Outside special interest groups, supported by the Republican Party, are trying to seize control from local voters because they refuse to accept the results of a legitimate, democratic election to remove the status quo,” Ms. Price’s campaign wrote in July.

But trusted voices within Oakland want more muscle to clean up the streets that have become a playground for criminals.

The Oakland NAACP said in its state of emergency request that the city’s “failed leadership” and the district attorney’s squishy attitude towards prosecuting crooks is fostering a lawless environment.

Ms. Adams, the local chapter’s president, said crime started spiraling after Mayor Thao fired former Oakland Police Chief LeRonne Armstrong in February.

The mayor said she dismissed the police chief over his handling of misconduct allegations against one of his sergeants.

The city’s police commission, which oversees the department, said after the fact it didn’t support Ms. Thao’s decision. The commission expects to present police chief candidates to the mayor by November at the latest.

“She said that she didn’t trust the chief,” Ms. Adams said about Ms. Thao. “Now I want to ask the question — do the voters trust her? Because the crime went up.”