"Crime rates, specifically violent crime, in the Bay Area are on the rise. Schools and businesses are scrambling to keep themselves safe."--Mila Boyden, 7th grade
Crime rates, specifically violent crime, in the Bay Area are on the rise. Schools and businesses are scrambling to keep themselves safe. According to PPIC (Public Policy Institute of California), “California’s violent crime rate increased by 6.0%, from 440 per 100,000 residents in 2020 to 466 in 2021. While robberies fell somewhat (by 1.9%), aggravated assaults jumped by 8.9%, while homicides and rape increased by 7.7% and 7.9%. California’s violent crime rate in 2020 (the latest nationwide statistics available) was higher than the national rate of 387 per 100,000 residents and ranked 16th nationwide.”
As seen in the chart below, property crimes increased by 5% in Alameda County while violent threats increased double that number by 10%.
As seen in the chart below, property crimes increased by 5% in Alameda County while violent threats increased double that number by 10%.
Rafi Ponet, a 7th grade OSA student who lives in Temescal near Mosswood Park, stated,“I feel relatively safe there. It is a little farther away from where most recent shootings have happened but it’s still close enough to it for similar stuff to happen.” When asked how often he got news reports about violent crimes in the Bay Area, he said “I don’t really watch the news but I hear about those types of things, especially recently a few times a week.”
He stated that he didn’t feel very safe at school. When asked to describe he said that “I feel safe inside the school but being outside in downtown Oakland can make me a little nervous. Like in PE we go to City Hall in which there was a shooting a couple weeks ago. But we do have security guards which makes it a little bit better.”
As for Ponet’s confidence on OSA’s precautions and drills to prepare students for a violent threat, he’s unsure.“I think it depends because if we were inside the building I think that the lock down drill will help us and that we will know what to do, but if we were outside I don’t think that the school can do anything to protect us,” he said.
There are certain areas in Oakland in which crime rates are higher than others such as the lake merritt neighborhood. “I live at Lake Merritt in Oakland. I love it during the day - the view is beautiful and everyone from all parts of Oakland meets there,” said Crystal Yan, a Middle School Teacher/Science Department Chair at OSA. “The problem is, at night, it can be dangerous. People park by the lake to party, and after sometimes start fights. There have been three killings on my street in the last year and a half.”
Yan said that she had definitely noticed a recent rise of crime in the Bay Area. “I actually saw someone pull up in a vehicle and break into a car when it was still bright out. Recently, a deranged man broke into my co-op building. Luckily, my husband escorted him out and got the stolen key back. Still, it's been scary.”
When giving her thoughts on why this recent surge of violence is happening, Yan said that “When the economy starts to fall, and people lose their jobs and can't afford rent, they get desperate. I've also noticed that the cops aren't very responsive. People committing crimes seem more brazen lately.”
Yan stated that she felt safe in school and that she trusted her community. She also stated that she felt like no one's ever really ready for a violent threat. “I don't think we're ever truly prepared for a violent threat, but I don't think the school is to blame for that. We need stricter gun laws.”
Waves of crime are very concerning and scary. Especially when they can impact schools. Many students at OSA have said that they've seen cars getting broken into right outside the school.
“I was in class in room 222 and I looked out the window because I heard people yelling on the street and saw someone reaching into a car through a window that they had just smashed. They were loading things from the vehicle into their own. Then they drove away. Right after that, I saw a man run across the street, put his hands on his head, open the trunk with his keys and then talk to someone who saw the car get broken into. The police showed up 3 minutes later. The police talked to the guy, then drove away,” reported Mackenzie Luna, a 7th grade Literary Arts student at OSA.
Mike Oz, the Interim Executive Director said that he was in a conversation with the Oakland Police department's police captain recently. “I was talking to them about creating a police presence around the school. That's a pretty reasonable thing to try to make happen. We've had assaults recently, we've had carjackings and car break ins almost everyday. In any town I think that that would be a pretty reasonable thing.”
However, the City of Oakland told Oz that they didn’t have the capacity to create a presence around the OSA campus. “I was told very directly by a police officer that unless there are shootings currently happening at your school we don’t have the resources to send someone to you. And that is unbelievable that a degree of crime can be so egregious that they can’t have a law enforcement presence to keep schools safe. They told us to hire our own armed security.”
OSA also sent out an email to parents about school safety and things that they can do to volunteer and help out with their safety task force. Such as morning coffee sidewalk which OSA will be hosting every two weeks to have a community presence outside the school during drop off. And Parent patrol in which OSA will be offering “opportunities for families to provide an ongoing presence before school, during lunch, and after school in the area surrounding the campus.”
Currently OSA has security guards posted at the 18th and 19th exit and in the hallways. OSA security guards also have a presence during outside lunch at uptown park and in PE when classes go off campus.
He stated that he didn’t feel very safe at school. When asked to describe he said that “I feel safe inside the school but being outside in downtown Oakland can make me a little nervous. Like in PE we go to City Hall in which there was a shooting a couple weeks ago. But we do have security guards which makes it a little bit better.”
As for Ponet’s confidence on OSA’s precautions and drills to prepare students for a violent threat, he’s unsure.“I think it depends because if we were inside the building I think that the lock down drill will help us and that we will know what to do, but if we were outside I don’t think that the school can do anything to protect us,” he said.
There are certain areas in Oakland in which crime rates are higher than others such as the lake merritt neighborhood. “I live at Lake Merritt in Oakland. I love it during the day - the view is beautiful and everyone from all parts of Oakland meets there,” said Crystal Yan, a Middle School Teacher/Science Department Chair at OSA. “The problem is, at night, it can be dangerous. People park by the lake to party, and after sometimes start fights. There have been three killings on my street in the last year and a half.”
Yan said that she had definitely noticed a recent rise of crime in the Bay Area. “I actually saw someone pull up in a vehicle and break into a car when it was still bright out. Recently, a deranged man broke into my co-op building. Luckily, my husband escorted him out and got the stolen key back. Still, it's been scary.”
When giving her thoughts on why this recent surge of violence is happening, Yan said that “When the economy starts to fall, and people lose their jobs and can't afford rent, they get desperate. I've also noticed that the cops aren't very responsive. People committing crimes seem more brazen lately.”
Yan stated that she felt safe in school and that she trusted her community. She also stated that she felt like no one's ever really ready for a violent threat. “I don't think we're ever truly prepared for a violent threat, but I don't think the school is to blame for that. We need stricter gun laws.”
Waves of crime are very concerning and scary. Especially when they can impact schools. Many students at OSA have said that they've seen cars getting broken into right outside the school.
“I was in class in room 222 and I looked out the window because I heard people yelling on the street and saw someone reaching into a car through a window that they had just smashed. They were loading things from the vehicle into their own. Then they drove away. Right after that, I saw a man run across the street, put his hands on his head, open the trunk with his keys and then talk to someone who saw the car get broken into. The police showed up 3 minutes later. The police talked to the guy, then drove away,” reported Mackenzie Luna, a 7th grade Literary Arts student at OSA.
Mike Oz, the Interim Executive Director said that he was in a conversation with the Oakland Police department's police captain recently. “I was talking to them about creating a police presence around the school. That's a pretty reasonable thing to try to make happen. We've had assaults recently, we've had carjackings and car break ins almost everyday. In any town I think that that would be a pretty reasonable thing.”
However, the City of Oakland told Oz that they didn’t have the capacity to create a presence around the OSA campus. “I was told very directly by a police officer that unless there are shootings currently happening at your school we don’t have the resources to send someone to you. And that is unbelievable that a degree of crime can be so egregious that they can’t have a law enforcement presence to keep schools safe. They told us to hire our own armed security.”
OSA also sent out an email to parents about school safety and things that they can do to volunteer and help out with their safety task force. Such as morning coffee sidewalk which OSA will be hosting every two weeks to have a community presence outside the school during drop off. And Parent patrol in which OSA will be offering “opportunities for families to provide an ongoing presence before school, during lunch, and after school in the area surrounding the campus.”
Currently OSA has security guards posted at the 18th and 19th exit and in the hallways. OSA security guards also have a presence during outside lunch at uptown park and in PE when classes go off campus.
