California’s cities are continuing to lose the battle against crime. The UK Daily Mail did an in-depth review of business owners in Oakland who are on the front lines of this struggle.
Derreck Johnson, owner of Home of Chicken and Waffles, said: ‘Every day we struggle with not wanting to lay off our employees.’I had a group from Miami get robbed at gunpoint on a Saturday afternoon, all their jewelry taken. That should not be my priority. That should not be my job, to make sure that my customers are safe while they’re walking the streets in Oakland.’Many of Johnson’s patrons have had their luggage stolen from their cars, or been robbed at gunpoint while coming in and out of the restaurant.The total number of armed robberies in Oakland this year have reached 1282, which equates to a 43 percent rise since this time last year.At the same time, vehicle thefts are up nearly 50 percent, and home invasions by 65 percent – and Oakland police say they’ve arrested seven people in a special operation that targets car thieves.
One of the business owners likened the area to a battleground during the Vietnam War.
Speaking with several local news outlets over the weekend, Bruce Vuong, a Vietnamese national who owns an auto shop blocks from where the woman was brutalized, compared the area to his country during its infamous war.Ironically, the neighborhood is already named Little Saigon.’Oakland has become a warzone,’ Vuong, who has owned and operated Quality Tech Automotive Shop on International for 35 years, told ABC’s local affiliate.
Meanwhile, the whole Bay Area is seeing a cool-down in the housing market.
A new study suggested that the Bay Area’s housing market was seeing one of the nation’s largest cooldowns, as 13 local cities were among a list of the top 18 U.S. spots, where home prices were falling.The analysis by financial technology company, SmartAsset, ranked cities by the largest percent drop of the typical home value between the time period of May 2023 and May 2022.
In response to the losses in business and home values, area residents are now taking the same approach other Californians took. We reported that a recall drive against Soros-backed District Attorney Pamela Price was being organized in August.
The movement has now been funded, and signatures are now being gathered.
The group leading the effort to recall Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price began collecting signatures Sunday.”People will know that it is time for us to start the recall,” said Brenda Grisham, an Oakland Peace activist and one of the leaders of the recall effort.The group is called SAFE — Save Alameda For Everyone. They claim Price has been too lenient on crime since taking office.”The focus of the DA’s department is not just to set aside the families who have lost loved ones,” Grisham said. “You have to work with these families in order to make a difference and help other families, and we just have had enough of it.”
It appears residents are not happy with Price’s idea of “criminal justice reform.”
“I’ve been seeing and experiencing the crime wave in Oakland, and I do believe that it’s directly related to the D.A. and her policies on restorative justice,” said Evelyn Gibbe, who signed the recall petition on Sunday.Gibbe was among a number of signees who told KTVU that Price’s handling of criminal cases had motivated them to come out.”I’ve lived in Oakland for 30 years, and it’s never been as bad as it is now,” said Robert Madera, part of a steady stream of county residents signing the petition.”Frankly, I’m just afraid to come over into Oakland, I’m afraid to come over, and I’m a marine,” said Willie Wood, who lives in Alameda.Price, who was elected with 53 percent of the vote last year after campaigning on a platform of criminal justice reform, continued to defend her record this week.
Interestingly, the crime spree recently hit Price.
The work laptop belonging to Alameda County, Calif. District Attorney Pamela Price was stolen from a security team SUV last week, ABC 7 news reported.The alleged theft occurred outside the Family Justice Center where the SUV was parked just after 3:00 p.m. Price was there attending a domestic violence event.Security personnel returned to the $90,000 SUV to find the windows smashed. Several items, including her work laptop, were missing. Price called police and reportedly waited for over an hour for assistance before giving up and filing an online report over the theft.
Hopefully, the area’s voters will be better informed about what “criminal justice reform” really means and make better choices before they continue to descend into dystopian oblivion.
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