California’s Bay area will be celebrating Oakland’s first city-permitted cannabis festival taking place at the Frank Ogawa Plaza over the Labor Day weekend. But, not everyone is in a celebratory mood. There’s a major robbery and gun violence epidemic unfolding in Northern California and its barely making the radar of the nation.
There have been 87 homicides in the city, a 26% increase in homicides compared to the same time in 2020. That’s roughly one homicide every three days. So far in 2021, the number of shootings in the city have exceeded 400, while armed robberies have spiked up 50% to 700 and carjackings are documented at 329. Police have recovered a whopping 800 high-caliber guns on the streets of Oakland in 2021 alone.
In the week before Labor Day Monday, Oakland suffered the loss of five human beings to gun violence, according to Oakland police. Meanwhile, police are dealing with the “lowest staffing levels in years.”
One particular heartbreaking case involved 23-year-old Hassan Xavier Bell, who was patronizing Extravagant Grooming Lounge in Oakland’s Rockridge when two armed assailants shot Bell and a nearby barber on Aug. 28. The barber survived, but Bell was not so lucky. He was shot 10 times, one of those shots hitting him in the back of the head as he desperately tried to flee the gunmen. The former San Francisco State University student had goals to become a social justice professor. A GoFundMe with a goal of $15,000 has been set up by his sister Tori Bell where she writes on his commitment to his community.
“Born on October 17th, 1997, Hassani Bell was only 23 years young with a full life ahead of him. He was in the social justice program at San Leandro High School, who devoted his life to our community and the injustice of the people who are impacted by gun violence and sadly the same issues he was devoted to change took his life.”
The suspects have not been captured by police.
In another incident, two sisters are forever traumatized by a violent experience that took place outside of their Oakland home on International Blvd. Sisters Fanny and Sophia refuse to be identified publicly, but are willing to share their story to bring awareness to the violence taking place in Oakland. Fanny returned to her house from grocery shopping when two masked individuals approached her holding a gun. They grabbed her purse and pushed her down.
Not too far away, makeup artist Janea, also known as Faced By Janea, was the victim of a car break-in. After a 16-hour commercial shoot in San Francisco, Janea returned to her home at Durant Square. Too tired to remove her makeup supplies, she left them in her car and went into her home. The next day, she discovered the back window of her car had been smashed in and over $15,000 worth of professional makeup tools were stolen. Without her supplies, the incident has prevented Janea from taking on new gigs.
The hike in homicide and crime rates have been attributed to the pressure of the Covid-19 pandemic, unemployment, poverty, human trafficking, gang violence, and the retreat of Oakland police support amid the eruption of protests against social injustice and police brutality.
Similar to the notorious reputations of the Los Angeles Police Department and New York Police Department, the Oakland Police Department has been under fire in the past for tactics used against Oakland residents.
In 2000, a group of 119 Oakland residents filed a civil rights complaint against Oakland police officers who had unwarrantedly targeted African Americans and implemented harsh use of force, while framing individuals and making false arrests. In 2003, the Oakland Police Department was subjugated to federal oversight, a review and supervision compliance program to investigate standard operating protocols and policies. However, the federal oversight is expected to lift by January.
Now, Oakland officials are pleading for help. After a purse-snatching incident in Oakland’s Chinatown nearly cost a man his life a couple of weeks ago, the Oakland Chinatown Chamber president Carl Chan had a few requests of his own, calling for a “State of Emergency.”
“We want you to bring in the California Highway Patrol,” Chan said. “I’m not only asking you to patrol Chinatown, I’m asking you to send the CHP to the city of Oakland, all areas. We need your help.”
Oakland Police Chief LeRonne L. Armstrong has also become alarmed by the rising crime statistics.
“Shootings are a real indication of the increase in violence in our community,” Armstrong said. “To see shootings up 50 percent is really concerning.”
Governor Gavin Newson has resolved to dispatch more law enforcement into Oakland to mitigate rising crime. In addition, funding in the amount of $400 million will go towards ending crime across the state. But, will his efforts be enough if the issues of unemployment and poverty persist?
