Oakland police recognize public’s help ---
Oakland police issued a news announcement last week that provided a few recent examples of Oakland residents taking action to help police arrest criminals. Getting residents to cooperate with police is a central goal and challenge of Oakland police and every police department in the nation.
Recent killings and shootings in Oakland’s Fruitvale district motivated business owners to increase their efforts to work with each other and with Oakland police. The shooting death of merchant Jesus
"Chuy" Campos was an apparent turning point for people in the area. They welcomed the city´s program to install 100 high-definition video cameras to capture crime on camera.
“After the killing of ‘Chuy’ Campos, the business owners in the area really organized to press the mayor to put the video cameras,” said Fruitvale merchant Hugo Guerrero. “This program is just part of the solution - there is a lot to do to fix the problems that we face every day.”
“The insecurity has really affected people at personal and business level,” said Luis Dominguez, owner of the Airtech mobile phone store on International Blvd. “Business is very slow, people are scared. People feel a lot of anger and frustration of the situation.”
The examples of citizen action from the police announcement:
- On July 24th, 2011 at approximately 7:10 PM, a female Oakland resident was talking on her cell phone in the 5900 block of Claremont Ave. when a 21 year-old man grabbed her cell phone. A struggled ensued between the victim and the suspect which caused the victim to fall to the ground. The suspect ran away with the victim’s cell phone. Two witnesses chased the suspect as he ran away and held him down until the police arrived and arrested him. The suspect was interviewed by investigators and confessed to the crime.
- On July 24th, 2011 at approximately 9:40 PM a 21 year-old Oakland resident said that he was chased by three males who attempted to rob him. The victim sought help from an area resident who called the police. Oakland Police Officer Ruiz responded to the 600 block of 60th St. to investigate and saw three people who fit the description provided by the victim. Officer Ruiz was able to stop 20 year-old Eric Watts of Oakland, who was later identified by the victim as one of the people involved in the attempted robbery.
- On July 26th, 2011 at approximately 11:15 AM, a residential burglary occurred in the 5300 Block of Broadway Terrace. A witness was able to obtain the license plate of the suspect vehicle. Police located the vehicle in the 5600 Block of International Boulevard and detained two male suspects.
The announcement did not include any examples of people helping in cases of violent crime or homicide, which are often the ones that require greater public involvement to solve.
“The police want to do a better job and we have tried to convince the people that they have to cooperate with the police - it is the only way to solve the crimes,” says Councilmember Ignacio de la Fuente.
A recent opportunity for Oakland residents to assist with a homicide case is the city’s 66th homicide of the year, which happened on August 5th. Police officers responded to the 8700 block of B Street and found that two women had been injured by gunfire. According to police, the women were in a car going west on B Street when at least two suspects began firing on them. One woman was pronounced dead on the scene. Anybody with information is asked to call the Oakland Police Department Homicide Unit at (510) 238-3821.