Dear City Council Members and City Manager:

I wanted to update you on our crime stats for the first half of the year as we start July--and the information is very positive!  Thanks to excellent police-community partnerships, very good prevention efforts, strong investigative and follow-up strategies, and high quality crime-analysis work, we have seen significant reductions in both violent and property crime.  The following stats compare the first half of 2014 to the same period in 2013.  2013 was also a good year for us, but this progress is even more impressive:

Armed Robbery:  ¯25%
Assault w/Deadly Weapon:  ¯26%
Assault w/Firearm:  ¯38%
Attempted Homicide:  ¯50%
Attempted Robbery:  ¯40%
Battery w/Injury:  ­46% (net increase of 6)
Carjacking:  ­11% (net increase of 1)
Homicide:  ¯42%
Rape:  ¯40%
Strong-arm Robbery:   ¯28%
Overall Violent Crime:  ¯26%  

Arson:  ¯37%
Auto Burglary:  ¯17%
Commercial Break-ins:  ¯50%
Grand Theft:  ¯13%
Petty Theft:  ¯22%
Residential Break-ins:  ¯36%
Vehicle Theft:  ¯24%
Overall Property Crime:  ¯27%

Shots Fired Calls (includes ShotSpotterâ activations):  ¯43%

A couple of other things I wanted to share with you:

• The Juneteenth parade and festival was probably one of the most well-attended in recent history.  We had a few very minor skirmishes between a couple of young men at the end of the day, but only one arrest needed to be made.  There were no real problems of any consequence and vibe throughout the day was extremely positive.  In addition, we received great feedback about how our officers interacted with the community and the way in which we were able to assure everyone’s safety.
• The Department is continuing to make it a priority to focus on human trafficking and prostitution in neighborhoods and business areas where this has been an ongoing problem.  We have rescued a significant number of very young females who are being exploited by gangs and other traffickers under threat of physical violence.  Our focus continues to be the pimps and the “johns” who are at the root of the problem, rather than simply arresting the young women—who are often the victims of these crimes.  We work closely with other law enforcement agencies in the area because this is a regional problem.  In addition, we partner with Community Violence Solutions to provide resources and services for the exploited individuals.  Lt. Shawn Pickett and Officer Yesenia have played a major role in working to address these challenges.

Have a great (and safe) 4th of July weekend.  I hope you will stop by the festivities tonight in and near the Craneway that include the Oakland Symphony and (of course) the fireworks!  We will have extra officers working throughout the weekend to keep folks safe and address any potential crime issues.

Regards,

Chief Chris Magnus