Major crimes in Oakland have dropped 15 percent in comparison to last year. According to the Trib, Oakland police credit the decline to more cops working weekend nights and increased community involvement. And while both of those factors may be in play, Mayor Ron Dellums also deserves credit for his reforms of the police department, including the move to geographic policing and finally bringing the force up to full strength. If the drop-in-violent-crime trend continues, it’ll be interesting to see whether the mayor’s many critics have the courage to give him his due. And this year’s trend should finally put to rest the argument that crime is related to the economy and the lack of jobs. We’re in the middle of an economic crisis and the jobless rate is at historic levels, and yet crime is going down.
FOLLOW US
