Oakland Police Brass Say Arrests Not Answer

“The police are really trying hard, but we still don’t have the results we want.”

Carolyn Jones
Chronicle

With http://www.wvwnews.net/story.php?id=1575 fearful and angry about crime, and some even fighting back against robbers and intruders, a top Oakland police official told city leaders Tuesday night that police alone can’t solve the violence.

“Right now, it’s pretty clear we are in a time of increased crime,” said Oakland police Deputy Chief Dave Kozicki, adding that crime nationwide is up due to the faltering economy. “But the bottom line is we believe we cannot arrest our way out of these problems.”

Oakland’s crime problems are http://www.wvwnews.net/story.php?id=3210 and family values, and Kozicki called on the city’s schools, families, faith-based groups and community groups to all work together to control crime.

“You said you can’t arrest our way out of this problem,” City Councilwoman Pat Kernighan told Kozicki and other police leaders, including Police Chief Wayne Tucker. “Well, you sure better try. We all have our jobs to do, and your job is to arrest people.”

Hours before the deputy chief addressed the council’s public safety committee, authorities charged a 16-year-old boy in connection with the brazen takeover robbery of a restaurant, and a resident shot and wounded an ex-con who police say was breaking into the resident’s home in North Oakland.”There’s something in the air. People are fed up, upset, vocal,” Kernighan said before the meeting. “The police are really trying hard, but we still don’t have the results we want.”

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/04/23/MN8I10A2UG.DTL

2008-04-23