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Seeking Solutions to Crime Wave, Oakland District 3 Community Holds Safety Forum with Police, Elected Leaders

Citizens and business owners met with elected officials on Tuesday at the Calabash restaurant in Uptown Oakland to air concerns on public safety and rising crime in their district. Issues on the table included the need for faster police responses, connecting non-violent offenders with resources and an understanding of the Alameda County District Attorney’s prosecuting practices and role in the system’s matrix.

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Oakland District 3 Councilmember Carroll Fife (left) and Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price.
Oakland District 3 Councilmember Carroll Fife (left) and Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price.

By Carla Thomas

Citizens and business owners met with elected officials on Tuesday at the Calabash restaurant in Uptown Oakland to air concerns on public safety and rising crime in their district.

Issues on the table included the need for faster police responses, connecting non-violent offenders with resources and an understanding of the Alameda County District Attorney’s prosecuting practices and role in the system’s matrix.

Area 2 Police Captain Jeff Thomason of the Oakland Police Department (OPD), Oakland District 3 Councilmember Carroll Fife, Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price, and Harold Duffey, Interim City Administrator for the City of Oakland were present.

This month, OPD responded to over 20 commercial break-ins in a matter of days. Frequent shootings are occurring in areas of East and West Oakland, now tracked by Shot Spotter, which alerts police where shots have been fired and directs officers to the right place.

Moderated by Nathan Moon, advocacy director of the Ujima Neighborhood Council, and hosted by Angela Moore of Oakland’s Neighborhood Services Division, the consensus reached in the meeting was that the rise in city violence corresponded to the abundance of automatic weapons on the streets, the continuing historic crack epidemic, and a current uptick in fentanyl use.

Pastor Raymond Lankford, Oakland Private Industry Council, Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price, Oakland Public Works Director Harold Duffey, Chief Assistant DA Royl L. Roberts, Pastor John Huddle, Chief Assistant DA Otis Bruce, Jr. Photo by Carla Thomas.

Pastor Raymond Lankford, Oakland Private Industry Council, Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price, Oakland Public Works Director Harold Duffey, Chief Assistant DA Royl L. Roberts, Pastor John Huddle, Chief Assistant DA Otis Bruce, Jr. Photo by Carla Thomas.

Victims of physical violence, car break-ins and small business break-ins with no arrests have left citizens with many questions about public safety.

With so many questions and not enough answers, citizens have further updated their demand: the ability to not just feel safe in their community but actually be safe in local surroundings.

The meeting included about 40 stakeholders, even a few beyond District 3 boundaries. Chinatown community leader Darlene Wong detailed the timeline and tools used to break into a popular restaurant on Eighth Street, one of four break-ins in the area.

According to Wong, the restaurant was empty by 3:15 a.m., and within five minutes, thieves spent the next 14 minutes using a saw, bolt cutters, and a hammer to bust through the restaurant’s gate and two double doors. Wong said the damage and theft cost $36,000 and her boss, the restaurant’s owner is livid.

Wong said cultural dynamics and fear of retaliation have prevented residents right across the street from reporting incidents.

“We have neighbors right across from our business, but fear of retaliation is big in the culture,” she said.

Wong hopes that a third-party patrol company and community liaisons will work more closely with the Chinatown Improvement Council.

Nina Moore, third-generation owner of Everett & Jones Barbeque Restaurant in Jack London Square, said their establishment had been victimized by theft twice in one week.

“They trashed the office and stole two safes,” said Moore. “It’s very stressful because my mom started this business in 1973. We are family-owned and -operated. My sister and I inherited and now run the business after our mom passed of cancer two years ago. We need more support for our businesses and public safety,” said Moore.

Price listened closely to the concerns during the meeting and explained that up until now the function of the District Attorney’s office has been the same for 100 years.

She acknowledged that lack of resources and even under-utilized resources have impacted the community and clarified that she has no authority over the OPD or how it functions, and the OPD has no authority over her.

Hiring eight new attorneys and two for mental health are the beginning of change, according to Price. “We spent the month of January reviewing cases and found 37 people in jail that are incompetent for trial,” said Price.

She also explained that mental illness is not a crime and mentally ill citizens that need an alternative should have been referred or sent to the Care and Navigation Center (CNC).

With two years of a three-year contract and a $300,000 annual budget, Price says the center has only served six people. “With no oversight and accountability under the previous administration, we end up with people in need of medical care or in need of a time of respite at the CNC, sent to jail and forgotten.”

Price also explained many are reluctant to be transported to a care center in the back of a police car.

Until a few weeks ago there was only one mental health liaison for the entire county. Price said. “There are many systemic changes we are currently working on. I just increased my staff to support those with mental health issues.”

Plans to work closely with community-based organizations in a full-service partnership with the Alameda County Behavioral Health Department and the Sheriff’s Department are underway, Price said.

Shared data, interdepartmental communications, and the use of collateral courts for qualifying defendants are also changes she’s making.

“We interact with 19 agencies. We can’t prosecute unless a case is referred to the D.A. To date, there was no data on referrals, public or private. There has been no public transparency or internal accountability. We’re working with I.T. on a data system to track everything.”

Pastor Lankford of the Oakland Private Industry Council and his team of citizen patrollers offered alternatives to police intervention. “When members of and from the community interact with non-violent offenders, a compassionate liaison can produce a better outcome.”

Richard Johnson, founder and executive director of FIGB, Formerly Incarcerated Giving Back, observed that many OPD SUVs are posted in the community with the engines on for hours. “I think it would be better for the environment if we had some police patrols on e-bikes”

For residents and businesses dealing with homelessness in the neighborhoods, Duffey, Oakland’s Interim City Administrator for the City of Oakland, said he is temporarily tasked with the city’s 800 homeless encampments.

Duffey discussed the process of closing city encampments and how sometimes the rules and regulations delay progress. “Our efforts to just remove encampment debris are thwarted if a person claims the items as their personal property.”

Fife empathized with the community’s frustrations and explained that the issues raised have been systemic for a long time, and she’s all about solutions and thinking “outside of the box.”

Fife suggested strengthening the 311 system and recently launched a micro-program pilot to pay a group of techies to improve the system’s functions. “311 is an operational system, but not completely funded, however we’re changing that.”

Shawn Upshaw, Triangle Response Coordinator for the City’s Department of Violence Prevention, said that more community liaisons need to be funded for violence prevention and support of people at the scene of a crime or homicide.

Bay Area

Oakland Awarded $28 Million Grant from Governor Newsom to Sustain Long-Term Solutions Addressing Homelessness

Governor Gavin Newsom announced the City of Oakland has won a$28,446,565.83 grant as part of the Homeless Housing, Assistance and Prevention (HHAP) grant program. This program provides flexible grant funding to help communities support people experiencing homelessness by creating permanent housing, rental and move-in assistance, case management services, and rental subsidies, among other eligible uses.

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Mayor Sheng Thao
Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao

Governor Gavin Newsom announced the City of Oakland has won a$28,446,565.83 grant as part of the Homeless Housing, Assistance and Prevention (HHAP) grant program.

This program provides flexible grant funding to help communities support people experiencing homelessness by creating permanent housing, rental and move-in assistance, case management services, and rental subsidies, among other eligible uses.

Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao and the Oakland City Administrator’s Office staff held a press conference today to discuss the grant and the City’s successful implementing of the Mayor’s Executive Order on the Encampment Management Policy.

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Bay Area

Pamela Price Appoints Deputy D.A. Jennifer Kassan as New Director of Community Support Bureau

On Monday, District Attorney Pamela Price announced Deputy District Attorney Jennifer Kassan as the new director of the Community Support Bureau. Kassan has over 25 years of experience as an attorney and advisor for mission-driven enterprises including benefit corporations, low-profit limited liability companies, nonprofits, cooperatives, hybrid organizations, investment funds, and purpose trusts.

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Alameda County Deputy District Attorney Jennifer Kassan. Courtesy photo.
Alameda County Deputy District Attorney Jennifer Kassan. Courtesy photo.

Special to The Post

On Monday, District Attorney Pamela Price announced Deputy District Attorney Jennifer Kassan as the new director of the Community Support Bureau.

Kassan has over 25 years of experience as an attorney and advisor for mission-driven enterprises including benefit corporations, low-profit limited liability companies, nonprofits, cooperatives, hybrid organizations, investment funds, and purpose trusts.

Working in the DA’s new administration since 2023, Kassan was most recently assigned to the Organized Retail Theft Prosecution team.

Kassan has a master’s degree in City Planning from the University of California, Berkeley. She received a National Science Foundation Fellowship from Yale Law School, and graduated from Yale Law School in 1995. She earned her B.A. in Psychology with a minor emphasis in Ethnic Studies from UC Berkeley.

Kassan’s education, extensive legal background, list of notable accomplishments and impressive resume includes helping to found and lead multiple organizations to support community wealth building including:

 

  • Community Ventures, a nonprofit organization that promotes locally-based community economic development,
  • the Sustainable Economies Law Center, a nonprofit that provides legal information, training, and representation to support sustainable economies
  • the Force for Good Fund, a nonprofit impact investment fund
  • Crowdfund Main Street, a licensed portal for regulation crowdfunding
  • Opportunity Main Street, a place-based ecosystem building organization that supports under-represented entrepreneurs and provides education about community-based investing.

In addition, Kassan served as an elected member of the City Council of Fremont, California from 2018 to 2024, and on the Securities and Exchange Commission Advisory Committee on Small and Emerging Companies.

In 2020 she was named to the list of World-Changing Women in Conscious Business by SOCAP Global.

“We are excited to see Jenny accept the role as the new leader for the Community Support Bureau,” said Price. “She brings a wealth of talent, experience, and a vision to expand our office’s engagement with community groups and residents, that will level-up our

outreach programs and partnerships with local organizations with the aim of promoting crime prevention.

“We thank Interim CSB Director Esther Lemus, who is now assigned to our office’s

Restitution Unit, for her hard work and a great job fostering positive relationships between the DAO and the community.”

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Bay Area

Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao’s Open Letter to Philip Dreyfuss, Recall Election’s Primary Funder

Oaklanders Defending Democracy, a group opposing the recall of Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao, shared an open letter she wrote to Philip Dreyfuss of Farallon Capital, a coal hedge fund. According to Thao’s supporters, “Dreyfuss is the primary funder of the recall effort to remove her from office. He has not explained his motivations or answered one question about why he’s funding the recall or what his agenda is for Oakland.

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Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao,
Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao

Special to The Post

 

 

Publishers note: Oaklanders Defending Democracy, a group opposing the recall of Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao, shared an open letter she wrote to Philip Dreyfuss of Farallon Capital, a coal hedge fund. 

 

According to Thao’s supporters, “Dreyfuss is the primary funder of the recall effort to remove her from office. He has not explained his motivations or answered one question about why he’s funding the recall or what his agenda is for Oakland.

 

“All we know about him is his firm has invested over $2 billion in coal since 2022. Farallon Capital is a global hedge fund with $39 billion capital under management, headquartered in San Francisco, the supporters say.

 

The effort to recall Mayor Sheng Thao was built on top of an argument about a crime wave, pinning the blame for it on a newly elected Mayor. Now that crime has dropped massively, recall proponents are left with no compelling argument.

Oct. 30

Dear Philip Dreyfuss,

We haven’t met. As you know, I’m the Mayor of Oakland, elected in 2022 to serve and protect this city. Since stepping into office, I’ve tackled rising crime, homelessness, and budget challenges head-on, working tirelessly for Oakland’s future.

You are a hedge-fund manager and coal investor who doesn’t live in Oakland who is trying to buy our city government. But the people didn’t elect you, they elected me to protect them from people like you.

Shortly after my term began, you launched a campaign to remove me from office, pouring in nearly $500,000 of your own wealth. We’ll know the outcome of your campaign on Nov. 6, but let’s be clear about what’s at stake.

Since I took office, crime has dropped over 30%—we’re on track for less than 100 homicides for the first time since 2019, with 15,000 fewer crimes overall.

We’ve invested hundreds of millions into affordable housing, modernized our 911 system, streamlined construction permitting, and are fighting to make Oakland a safer and cleaner city.

If your recall succeeds, Oakland will see four mayors in just five years, another election for mayor the following year and a whopping $10 million cost to taxpayers. In other words, chaos. None of this will impact you because you don’t live here.

Oaklanders deserve to know who you are. I looked into your record and found that the hedge fund you help manage, Farallon Capital, has invested over $2 billion in coal since 2022.

For years, Oakland has stood tall against coal money threatening the health of West Oakland, Chinatown, Jack London and downtown.

Did you know that life expectancy in West Oakland is 7.5 years lower than the County average? Or that our children suffer from asthma at a rate twice as high as the rest of the County?

Philip, instead of trying to use your wealth to hijack our democracy and create chaos in our city you could have put your money where your mouth is.

Instead of investing in coal you could have invested in our young people—created scholarships for our college-bound kids, funded apprenticeships for those who want to learn a trade or helped rid our schools of lead.

Instead, you chose to divide us while you try to buy us. But I’m here to tell you, Philip, on behalf of the 450,000 residents of my city that Oakland is not for sale. NO to coal. NO to chaos. And NO to your selfish and self-serving recall.

Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao, City Hall, Oakland

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