Posted on 11/25/2008 12:46:55 AM PST by CE2949BB
OAKLAND — Oakland had the fifth-highest crime rate among U.S. cities in 2007, according to a widely followed but controversial report released Monday by the publishing company CQ Press.
Richmond ranked No. 9.
Oakland dropped one spot in the rankings after finishing No. 4 in last year's report. That was of little consolation for Oakland officials, even as they said they believe the city is on the right track with its public safety programs.
"We are obviously disappointed that we're not the fifth-safest city in the nation," police Chief Wayne Tucker said. "To explain why we're (No. 5), I think that we have a work in progress here. We certainly have a lot of crime we're dealing with on a daily basis, and I think the additional staff will have an impact on that."
Police Department staffing is at a record high after a group of incoming officers brought the department to 837 officers Nov. 14.
Tucker said a number of changes the department made this year likely bode well for Oakland's crime rate. Those changes include switching to a model of policing that emphasizes geographic accountability; changing officers' shifts so they are on the streets when they are most needed; staffing increases; and cutting down on the number of officers responding to calls outside their assigned patrol areas.
So far in 2008, serious crime in Oakland is down 3 percent compared with last year's rate, police data show. Homicide is up 1 percent, and aggravated assault is up 10 percent, the data show. Rape is down 9 percent, and burglary is down 6 percent.
Mayor Ron Dellums released a statement saying: "While trends are moving in the right direction, there is much work to be done. With time, I am very confident that the strategies we've implemented over the past year will continue to bear fruit and have more of an impact on crime and violence as we move forward."
The CQ Press annual report has been the subject of controversy. The company relies on FBI statistics to put together its annual list, and last year the FBI itself attacked the report, saying the "rough rankings provide no insight into the numerous variables that mold crime in a particular town, city, county, state or region."
Calls to the FBI on Monday were not returned.
CQ Press spokesman Ben Krasney said the rankings are based on a formula comparing per-capita crime statistics with national averages for six different categories of crime: murder, rape, aggravated assault, robbery, auto theft and burglary.
"There's some objection to it," he said, but "we're just making it easy for people to compare (crime rates) from city to city."
New Orleans ranked as the highest crime city in 2007. Following New Orleans were Camden, N.J.; Detroit, last year's No. 1; and St. Louis.
Richmond received a No. 9 ranking for the second straight year.
| Oakland Pride |
I live near Oakland....yes, this makes sense. I think a decade or so from now it won’t be that way.
> Homicide is up 1 percent, and aggravated assault is up 10 percent, the data show. Rape is down 9 percent, and burglary is down 6 percent.
..and that’s during the Raiders game alone.
Clue, and a hint to police Chief Wayne Tucker , allow folk to have a firearm to defend thier home, Not rocket science.
No need for polls either, one contradicts the other. Every single time. Wayne, don’t be a dolt, sure firearms are, in the hands of illirsponsible folk a bad bad thing, but if you want to go from 7th to 70th in one year, Allow folk to leagally own a firearm.
I challange this guy “Wayne” to do the right thing.
The survey must not have included Richmond, CA. If my car broke down I’d rather it be in Oakland than Richmond.
Oakland PD used to keep a lid on crime through sheer brutality. One night in the late ‘70s I worked graveyard shift at a car wash in West Oakland (Jimmy Carter was President and ANY job was hard to come by). I only lasted one night. At about 5:30 AM about half a dozen Oakland PD cars pulled up to be washed before the end of shift handover. The hoods and fenders of all of them were covered in blood from pimps and drug dealers “resisting arrest”. Apparently it is possible to communicate with pimps and drug dealers but you have to be very assertive. I was told this was an every night occurrence. A few years later, because of the liberal takeover of city government and fear of AIDS this practice was “reformed”. It’s been all down hill for Oakland from there.
Just during, or at the game?
The fruits of Jerry Brown's labors as mayor of Oakland, no doubt. Now that he's California's Attorney General, we can expect even bigger things.
New Orleans ranked as the highest crime city in 2007. Following New Orleans were Camden, N.J.; Detroit, last year’s No. 1; and St. Louis.
Even a casual glance at the list allows one thing to stand out.
The majority of cities that make the highest crime listing are run by Democrats. Heck Dellums in Oalland is a declared socialist.
So what does America do? It turns the whole frikkin Country over to a Socialist President.....
We have truly met the enemy and the enemy truly is us...
837 officers is not a very large Department, and how many of those officers are patroling, and how many are desk occupiers?
Does anyone have the entire list?
Well, I don’t know what Oakland is like now. But years ago, it was a black town and when I drove thru the older parts of town, the black “toughs” on the street corners, etc would eye me like sharks eyeing bait fish. I hated it when the traffic lights turned red. Just about broke out in a sweat until the light turned green and I could get moving again.
While I do have black friends, imo, the most racist group in the USA are the blacks. As a white, I have spent a lot of time also in Asian and Mexican areas and feel vastly more safe and welcome there than in the black areas. Too many blacks are prejudiced vs. whites just because they are white.
City Crime Rankings 2008-2009
http://www.cqpress.com/pages/citycrime2008
City Rankings
City Crime Rate Rankings (High to Low) (PDF, 76.5KB)
Looks like after Katrina New Orleans cleaned up the wrong kind of trash. Number 1 by a country mile.
Let’s see...Oakland, Detroit, Camden NJ, New Orleans,ST. Louis all have a few things in common; controlled by RATS, high minority populations etc. Maybe the Messiah Obama should focus on cleaning up these cities.
Thanks.
They’ve been slacking off!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.