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Mid-Year Data Shows Crime Is Declining in Oakland Across All Fronts [1]
['Magaly Muñoz', 'Oakland Post', 'A Graduate Of Sacramento State University', 'Magaly Muñoz S Journalism Experience Includes Working For The State Hornet', 'The University S Student-Run Newspaper', 'Conducting Research', 'Producing Projects For', 'All Things Considered', 'At National Public Radio. She Also Was A Community Reporter For El Timpano', 'Serving Latino']
Date: 2025-08-09 15:32:03+00:00
By Magaly Muñoz
Crimes in Oakland are trending down in the first half of the year across nearly all indexes aside from arson, according to new mid-year data from the Oakland Police Department (OPD).
“These results show that we’re on the right track, but our work is far from done,” Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee said at a press conference on Thursday afternoon.
Lee, now less than three months in office, said her administration has been working on a comprehensive approach to combating crime in the city. By expanding the Department of Violence Prevention, adding resources for sideshow prevention, and removing abandoned vehicles from the streets, Lee expects crime to decline.
According to OPD data, total crime has gone down 28% since 2024, with the most significant drops in robbery, burglary, and theft crimes.
Last year’s statistics also revealed that robbery is down 41%, while robbery involving a firearm is down 48%, the largest decline in all indexes. Carjacking and motor vehicle theft also saw the next largest drops at 46% and 45% respectively, from 2024.
Despite lower crime rates, arson is up nine percent from last year, though no explanation as to the increase.
Oakland Police Chief Floyd Mitchell also addressed the drop in property crimes and the validity in the data, which have previously been called into question because of delays in reporting.
“We know that not everyone reports property crimes. When crimes go unreported, it limits our ability to investigate and identify emerging crime trends,” Mitchell said.
The police department is also increasing its 911 answering speed, up to 73%, but is still below the 90% standard for state requirements.
Mitchell said that people have been telling him that they are starting to feel safer in the community, noticing the drops in crime for themselves, further supporting the data.
Assistant Chief Anthony Tedesko said the department has also ramped up sideshow and dangerous driving enforcement.
Tedesko said 100 vehicles have been towed for dangerous driving, and four arrests have been made for a series of crimes involving vehicles used to smash into businesses in the area.
Lee and Mitchell largely attribute the drops in violent crimes to the reemergence of the Ceasefire program, which targets and prevents community gun violence in Oakland.
Ceasefire had been used for many years in Oakland before it took a backseat in 2019, and quickly after, there was a large increase in crimes throughout the city during the pandemic.
“The fact that we walked away from the strategy in 2019, I don’t think it is a coincidence that crime was going up and did not start to turn down like it was in many other places. So the reimplementation of the strategy in early 2024 is a really important data point for us to note,” Dr. Holly Joshi, chief of the Department of Violence Prevention, said.
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[1] Url:
https://www.postnewsgroup.com/mid-year-data-shows-crime-is-declining-in-oakland-across-all-fronts/
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