Oakland's violent weekend sparks renewed calls for safer conditions
OAKLAND, Calif. - Another violent weekend in Oakland is sparking renewed calls for change and safer conditions. It’s something businessowner Bruce Vong knows all too well. His auto repair shop near 16th Avenue and International Boulevard has had a half dozen attempted burglaries and two burglaries, one of which was at gunpoint.
Vong, sitting in his cramped office Monday, said security cameras captured the start of the city’s violent weekend on Friday. Thieves used an SUV to ram open the gate of Quality Tech Auto Repair. Then, several suspects ransacked the property and stole tens of thousands of dollars in equipment.
"We need the city officials that we elected to get out here and see what we have to deal with every day. Every day," said Vong.
Over the course of two days, Oakland saw sideshows that injured one person, and three people killed in two separate shootings.
Some residents have called for the use of federal agents to supplement Oakland police officers. The city’s police officers’ union said more beat cops is an answer, which gets a green light from council member Noel Gallo.
"Elevate the number of police officers that we have. Because at one time when we have 130 shooting and killings in Oakland, we brought up the police department to 800 officers," said Gallo, who represents the 5th District.
But some activists say such talk is good for garnering votes, but not for cementing true change.
"Our elected officials are saying things that make for good headlines, but are not data driven and will not result in a safer Oakland," said Cat Brooks, executive director of the Anti Police-Terror Project.
She said more social services – mental health support, jobs, diversion programs – not officers, will stem the current violent tide.
"You’re not going to arrest your way out of the conditions that were created by the economic pandemic," said Brooks, a former Oakland mayoral candidate from the 2018 election cycle. "What they’re talking about is creating a police state. And that shouldn’t be a Cat Brooks' fear. And that shouldn’t be a Black or brown people’s fear. That should be everybody’s fear. That has never played out well anywhere."
Back at the auto shop, Bruce Vong says after 40-years of watching conditions decline constantly, true change is now a life-and-death issue.
"That’s why this November, the election coming up, we have to make changes. We have to make things right. We have to say hey this is our city, we’re going to take back our city," he said.
Some groups aren’t waiting two more months and have instead decided to March Monday evening to promote change.
"An opportunity for us to, as a neighborhood, be out on the street, to remind people that it’s still our neighborhood we live here and we’re gonna push back as much as we can," said Raymond Pisano of the San Antonio Neighborhood Coalition.
The coalition’s "Peace Walk" began at 6 p.m. at two locations: 10th Avenue & International and 21st Avenue & International. Organizers said marchers planned to meet as two groups move toward each other.
Jesse Gary is a reporter based in the station's South Bay bureau. Follow him on Instagram, @jessegontv and on Facebook, @JesseKTVU
