Excellent job. Sad, but predictable. With the status of "leadership" in Oakland, I honestly can't tell if this is statistical ignorance or willful misrepresentation. Moreover, there isn't a level of city-sanctioned propaganda that can edit away what people experience every day - the crime, businesses closing, vagrancy, etc. And the ever-present violence. Burts of gunfire during a family dinner last week here - just 100 feet from my house - 2 groups of women beefing and instead of having the capacity to work things out just spraying gunfire all over the neighborhood.
Thank you so much for the hard work that went into this article. I'm a 36 year resident of Oakland. I have been the victim of four crimes that I did not report, in the last two years, the latest less than a month ago when some goniff pepper sprayed me at Lake Merritt as I was parking my car. We don't report crimes because it will take an hour or a day for a cop to show up, and nothing will happen.
Besides critical lack of civilian staffing, I found this interesting... "In a statement to NBC Bay Area, the department said it uses an online tool called Cop Logic that allows the public to report crimes at a convenient time. Any delay in filing could therefore cause a lag in reporting. Police said crimes that miss the deadline for the weekly report are eventually added to the year-to-date column in a later report."
Sounds like myriad issues with relying on monthly reports. Which is not surprising given a lack of any consistent access system for the public.
It does point to the possibility of building a more accurate and realtime view based on the crime watch database, but it's not really clear how that data is tabulated or its accuracy. In the end, you are right that it is a myriad of issues that needed dedicated attention to get sorted.
Excellent reporting. Thank you.
Excellent job. Sad, but predictable. With the status of "leadership" in Oakland, I honestly can't tell if this is statistical ignorance or willful misrepresentation. Moreover, there isn't a level of city-sanctioned propaganda that can edit away what people experience every day - the crime, businesses closing, vagrancy, etc. And the ever-present violence. Burts of gunfire during a family dinner last week here - just 100 feet from my house - 2 groups of women beefing and instead of having the capacity to work things out just spraying gunfire all over the neighborhood.
Another bit of real journalism - not sloppy, partisan, amateur swill from the shells of former news outlets cited in Gardner's story.
Thank you for the great read!
Solid analysis, well-done and valuable. Just found out about the Oakland Report. Subscribed.
Thank you so much for the hard work that went into this article. I'm a 36 year resident of Oakland. I have been the victim of four crimes that I did not report, in the last two years, the latest less than a month ago when some goniff pepper sprayed me at Lake Merritt as I was parking my car. We don't report crimes because it will take an hour or a day for a cop to show up, and nothing will happen.
Great report Tim..... Have you seen this story on OPD crime reporting issues ? Came out yesterday
https://www.nbcbayarea.com/investigations/oakland-police-weekly-crime-reports/3539497/
Besides critical lack of civilian staffing, I found this interesting... "In a statement to NBC Bay Area, the department said it uses an online tool called Cop Logic that allows the public to report crimes at a convenient time. Any delay in filing could therefore cause a lag in reporting. Police said crimes that miss the deadline for the weekly report are eventually added to the year-to-date column in a later report."
Sounds like myriad issues with relying on monthly reports. Which is not surprising given a lack of any consistent access system for the public.
It does point to the possibility of building a more accurate and realtime view based on the crime watch database, but it's not really clear how that data is tabulated or its accuracy. In the end, you are right that it is a myriad of issues that needed dedicated attention to get sorted.
Thx Mary!