An unusual culprit is contributing to Oakland crime, officials say

San Francisco Chronicle / SFGate.com ^ | March 21, 2024 | By Ariana Bindman

[thecodont]

For years now, Oakland has been battling an onslaught of burned, stripped and abandoned vehicles that have made certain parts of the city feel like a scene from a John Carpenter sci-fi epic — and new data presented at an Oakland Public Works and Transportation Committee meeting on March 12 indicates that this pervasive issue is only getting worse.

The city received more than 11,000 requests to clear out abandoned vehicles from June 1 to Nov. 30, 2023, which was a “staggering increase,” according to Michael Ford, parking and mobility manager at Oakland’s Department of Transportation, who spoke during the presentation.

The city says that it lacks the resources to keep up with the demand to tow abandoned vehicles, the majority of which are stolen or inoperable. “The number of stolen vehicles towed in Oakland spiked by more than 80%” between 2021 and 2023, according to a 2024 report. The East and West Oakland neighborhoods deal with a disproportionate number of abandoned vehicles, according to the presentation. City Council District 3, which encompasses West and Downtown Oakland, had the highest number of towed vehicles at 605, followed by East Oakland’s District 7 at 581. Meanwhile, District 4, which includes Montclair and parts of the Oakland Hills, had just 49 towed vehicles, the presentation showed....

Though these burned and stripped vehicles are unsightly, they’re also dangerous because they attract rodents, “invite plundering” and lower property values, according to the city, and contribute to the cycle of poverty. Some are even “trap cars” that harbor drugs and firearms, Oakland Police Department representatives previously told SFGATE.

During the meeting, Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan said that abandoned cars can be used to smash through local businesses, “turn tricks” and conduct other illegal activities. They also pollute the streets with fluid and broken glass, she continued.

[thecodont]

This article reaches a whole new level of weird, trying to blame the effect and not the cause.

[linMcHlp]

bttt

[Jeff Chandler]

So . . . who’s the culprit?

[Chicory]

I think they are saying abandoned cars are “culprits” contributing to crime.

[SpaceBar]

I think they’re trying to say without actually saying it that it’s not people who annoy you.

[Jeff Chandler]

But cars are inanima . . . oh never mind.

[Disambiguator]

I think they’re trying to say without actually saying it that it’s not people who annoy you.

Articles like this annoy me.

[Chicory]

It’s become a mad, mad, mad, mad world.

[GSWarrior]

It’s true. Some neighborhoods are worse than others, but there are abandoned cars everywhere here.

[Bullish]

So . . . who’s the culprit?

I'm sure it's not the little darlings they love so much.

[Captainpaintball]

I never heard “abandoned vehicles” as a euphemism for black people before, but I learn something new every day.

[alexander_busek]

For years now, Oakland has been battling an onslaught of burned, stripped and abandoned vehicles that have made certain parts of the city feel like a scene from a John Carpenter sci-fi epic

Today, it's "Escape from Oakland."

Tomorrow, it's "Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome."

Regards,

[metmom]

Welcome to democrats promised utopia.

[who_would_fardels_bear]

Car thieves don’t destroy neighborhoods, stolen cars do.

[exPBRrat]

Tptb are too broke-dick to tow them away for scrap.

[xp38]

“My kids have never walked down my block,” community organizer Keisha Henderson said. “We’re in jail in our own communities.”

The dim utopia which hasn't changed much in my lifetime. This could have been said of the American urban ghetto 50 plus years ago. Maybe a slight glimmer when Giuliani had the broken windows policy going but I can't recall anything else positive.

[metmom]

Until blacks themselves take matters into their own hands and demand that their culture and communities fix themselves, nothing is going to change.

Whites are not able to fix the problems. More money being poured into them isn’t going to help. The problem is not an external one, but an internal one, one of the heart.

Those good, decent, hard working blacks need to hold accountable the ones who aren’t and ignore the protests and accusations of being an Uncle Tom and acting white, etc.

Democrats don’t want to help the blacks and besides, what with the blacks rejecting anything white people do except take their money, they will reject the help of whites.

If blacks don’t like the situation they are in, it’s up to them to fix it because they are the only ones who can.

Quit blaming others and take responsibility for your own lives. We can’t help what happens to us but we can help how we respond to it.

[bert]

Once the Black culture is gone feral, there is no return to civilized society possible

[metmom]

It certainly does not seem likely short of some kind of overwhelming Divine Intervention.

There is only one other solution to a problem like that, and that is not going to happen.