Oakland sees 34% drop in homicides, shootings in 2024

OAKLAND, Calif. - Oakland will finish 2024 with a 34% reduction in homicides and non-fatal shootings, according to city data championed by the nonprofit group, Faith in Action East Bay.

"Oakland will finish this year in 2024 as the safest since the start of the COVID pandemic," Alameda County probation department unit supervisor Annette Jointer said at a Monday news conference, attended by the group's Public Safety Committee and Ceasefire Night Walkers as well as representatives from the City of Oakland Department of Violence Prevention. 

As of Monday, there were 82 homicide victims recorded in 2024. 

Ceasefire seeks to identify people at very high risk of being involved in gun violence, inform them of their risk, and then offer them intensive community-based services such as life coaching, workforce development, and mental health care.

Oakland employed this strategy from 2012 to 2020, when homicides dropped by roughly 40%. 

The program was halted during the pandemic.

Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao, who was recalled in November, brought the program back. 

"Our communities have never wavered from our support of the Ceasefire Strategy," Faith in Action East Bay organizer Alba Hernandez said. "We knew in the beginning, in its struggle and in its success, that Ceasefire saves lives — the lives of Black and brown men in Oakland."  

Hernandez then made a plea to keep the program funded, as Oakland faces many budget cuts. 

"We must ensure that it continues to be fully funded with all the necessary resources," she said. 

Nikki Fortunato Bas, who is standing in as mayor until next week when she becomes an Alameda County supervisor, said the city will indeed prioritize funding for Ceasefire, and she credited Thao's pick of Brooklyn Williams, as her chief of Education and Community Safety, whom she credited with making the program a national model again. 

In addition to focusing on violent crime, Police Chief Floyd Mitchell said that the police department is also working hard to address property crime, which is still an issue in Oakland. 

He said he's looking forward to working with the new Alameda County District Attorney on making sure that the message "if you come into Oakland to commit property crimes, we're going to come after you just as hard as we're doing here in Ceasefire."