Oakland Thieves Steal Jaws of Life From Fire Department During Rescue Call
Apparently, in California, firefighters are now seen as targets of opportunity.
We have been following the outbreak of crime occurring in Oakland, California, which has been so devastating that Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao and its District Attorney, Pamela Price, will face a recall vote in November.
A recent development so shocking that it surely must adversely impact their chances of surviving the recall: In the middle of a rescue call last week, someone stole the Jaws of Life from Oakland’s firefighters.
Firefighters had brought out the tool during the call. After they used it, fire officials discovered the equipment had been taken, according to a spokesperson with the Oakland Police Department.
Used by emergency personnel after serious car crashes, the hydraulic tool pries open or cuts through wreckage to rescue someone inside. Jaws of Life tools can be operated by a single individual and generally weigh around 50 pounds.
An Oakland police spokesperson said their tool was taken at about 7:15 p.m. Friday in the 1600 block of West Street.
This development comes shortly after California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced that he would quadruple state police officers’ shifts in Oakland and increase surge operations there for the next four months to crack down on organized crime, carjacking, and other criminal activity.
It appears the local officials had been messaging crime data to show the city was safer than it actually is.
Newsom’s comments marked a rhetorical shift from last month, when, along with Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao and other officials, he touted Oakland Police Department data that purportedly showed a 33% decline in crime compared to the same period last year. Many news outlets, including the Chronicle, reported the data.
But it turns out those numbers were wrong.
As the Chronicle reported this week, Oakland’s police department has for years been publishing inaccurate and misleading crime data, leaving the public with the false impression that the city’s crime trends are better than they actually are.
…In Oakland over the past month or so: 14 people were injured in a Juneteenth mass shooting. At least 13 people were beaten and robbed steps away from their senior living community. Two older women were allegedly beaten and robbed by a man reportedly released from prison just 11 days before. Concrete blocks were thrown through the windows of a synagogue. And more than 80 people ransacked a gas station near the airport, causing more than $100,000 in damage. Not to mention a recent string of ethics scandals and last month’s FBI raid on Mayor Thao’s home.
Something is not right in Oakland.
The Jaws of Life are critical tools used by fire departments during emergencies where victims must be extricated, such as after an automobile crash. These devices also extricate victims from collapsed concrete and steel structures after earthquakes.
What happens if there is a major seismic event in Oakland? Those have been known to occur.
That the life-saving equipment is no longer available to service the tax-payers who paid for it due to criminal-friendly policies and open-border measures is just another road marker on the region’s descent into a progressive-caused hellscape.
I suspect firefighters are less likely to stay and serve in areas where they and their tools are not safe.
In the middle of a rescue call last week, someone stole the Jaws of Life from Oakland firefighters, authorities said.
Firefighters had brought out the tool during the call. After they used it, fire officials discovered the equipment had been taken, according to a spokesperson… pic.twitter.com/6ReWvVtY7G
— Mike Netter (@nettermike) August 27, 2024
I will be following the recall elections results closely to see if my fellow Californians are willing to reverse course on the woke agendas that make firefighters the targets of opportunity.
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Comments
Good golly. I hope the gaslighting of Oakland citizens regarding Oakland crime statistics wasn’t perpetrated by Caucasian Oakland civil servants.
The jaws of life will come in handy as a burglary tool.
They can use them to rip open the roll down metal doors on retail shops.
You beat me to it.
Now they are the Jaws of Free Bicycles And Small Motorized Vehicles.
Yeah, anybody that wants to live in a place run by democrats gets what they deserve.
In a city the size of Oakland, it would surprise me if there wasn’t extrication equipment on multiple apparatus throughout the city plus many back up sets such that the company that suffered the loss probably had a replacement within the hour. Something also tells me that the city is checking pawn shops to buy the equipment back.
None of that undermines the basic point of the article – that which you tolerate you get more of. Gone are the days when fathers properly reared their sons to be respectful and productive members of society. If you got caught by the cops you knew you were going a good going over which would pale in comparison to the asskicking you’d get from your dad after the cops dropped you home. It didn’t require much pain to alter the behavior of young stupid kids.
If it hurts, it instructs.
Its oakland. There are no fathers, only baby daddies.
1) I have been given to understand that what they got was the main part of the Jaws, but that there are major accessory parts needed to make it work and the OFD still has them so that it will be both quicker and easier than feared in getting that operational capability back.
2) Crime statistics are always “massaged” by local officials for political reasons. Especially in urban and Leftist areas.
Subotai Bahadur
It is long past time to ramp up the punishments for crimes, even minor ones.
Lock ‘em up, and throw away the keys.
Wow, is that a headline for our times, or what? I can’t imagine they’re going to try to sell a jaws of life on Craigslist, but it could be handy for breaking into cars to steal even more stuff. Oops, I might be wrong, I just googled and saw a listing for one on eBay. Crime pays in Oakland!
Another example of the type of thing driving the great sorting as folks decide whether they will remain in areas where the apathy of the majority of their neighbors towards retaining effective public policy of crime and the cultural/civic decay has led to a place where the FD gets jacked on scene. Don’t be the last one trying to depart.
When the terrorism starts getting real professional is when the building gets ‘sploded just to suck in the Fire Department for the second, bigger ‘splosion.
I can give an exact description of the thieves.
They steal the catalytic converters from parked police cars in SF. True story.
“They were just trying to rescue their own families.”
“Where were the social workers”
Pretty sure that Lori Lightfoot would have arrested the firefighters for inadequate care of equipment
Pretty sure that Joe Biden said “The thieves had a point”
And Kamala Harris would say something about root causes and offer to bail the perps out in the unlikely event they’re ever identified and arrested.
Then she would make a speech about the significance of the passage of crime.
The root cause is Jaws Of Life Deficit Syndrome.
The Surgeon General is worried about public health effects.
CDC will mandate new vaccine to prevent spread.
We must remain locked in basement until Pfizer says it’s ok to get injected weekly.
Fortunately, no side effects. None.
And it’s free, so nothing to worry about.
Oakland has been officially proclaimed a Jaws Desert.
Federal grants at 11.
Would have been funnier if the crooks had stolen the firetruck.
You get what you elect.
Perhaps, the fire truck was old enough to be manual shift.
Why are the firefighters in that stock photo at the top using Jaws of Life on a car door that’s already open?
He dropped his contact lens down the window slot while opening it.
Something is not right in Oakland.
Hoo boy is that an understatement.
Also, applicable to a LOT of places in, and out of, California.
True. Take Memphis… please.
If they don’t recall the mayor and district attorney, then there’s no hope for them and we should just build a wall around the city
Does CA have a crime of “Interference with rescue workers”? It should, this theft should be prosecuted under it, and the sentencing range should be the same as attempted murder. But if a death is attributable to such interference, it should be prosecuted as Felony Murder