CHP recovers more cars and guns in Oakland and East Bay
OAKLAND, Calif. - Gov. Gavin Newsom on Wednesday announced that in eight weeks, the California Highway Patrol will continue to stay focused on targeting crime in the East Bay and Oakland.
Since Feb. 5, the CHP has recovered 414 stolen vehicles, seized 31 crime-linked guns and arrested 181 people on charges that include possession of stolen property, auto theft, transportation of narcotics, DUI, and felony gun possession, as well as arrests for outstanding warrants.
"The numbers that were released today are just more examples of the great work that is being done on the ground in Oakland," said CHP Officer Andrew Barclay.
Barclay said the CHP will continue to work with Oakland police - but future operations won't always be announced.
"These operations are very fluid," Barclay said. "They're very dynamic in that they're not ‘set it and forget it.’ These are operations that have continuing, ongoing analysis of what we are seeing."
Oakland City Councilmember Noel Gallo said, "I really appreciate the cooperation from the Highway Patrol."
Gallo said Oakland needs all the help it can get, whether it's from the CHP, the Alameda County Sheriff's Office or BART police. Gallo said if he had his way, the National Guard would also come to Oakland.
"And at the end of the day, I am paying for everyone's salary. But public safety is the number one priority of any city, any county, any state, any country," Gallo said.
City statistics show violent crime in Oakland is up 10 percent compared to the same time last year. But robberies are down 32 percent - and commercial burglaries are down nearly 60 percent.
But those numbers are of no comfort to small businesses like Colonial Donuts on Lakeshore Avenue, which has now been robbed four times in the past 10 months.
"It's very defeating and as a small business owner in Oakland, it is just a trying time," said the donut shop's manager, who wished to be identified only as Phing.
Surveillance video shows three men walking into the shop at about 6 a.m. March 1. One guy vaults the counter and steals an entire cash drawer.
Phing and her family have owned the donut shop for four decades - and have taken precautions after each previous robbery. Phing said she supports increased law enforcement on a sustained level.
"If we can continue to see that presence. I mean, please. I want to see more. I want to see more police presence in the Lakeshore area - or just all over Oakland," said Phing.
But Cat Brooks of the Anti Police-Terror Project disagrees, saying more resources should be devoted to crime prevention programs and violence interrupters who stop crimes from happening in the first place.
Twenty-two days ago, KTVU filed a California Public Records Act to determine what a typical arrest and stolen car recovery pattern has been over the last five years to determine if these numbers from the CHP's targeted approach in Oakland are out of the ordinary.
Specifically, the request asked for the CHP arrest data for the Oakland/East Bay Area from 2018 to 2023 from Feb. 5 to March 11.
And the request also asked for the CHP stolen car recovery data for the same area and the same time period.
It's unclear if KTVU will ever learn the answers to these questions.
The CHP responded that first, the agency needs to determine if these records even exist, and second, they need an extension to figure that out.
KTVU's Lisa Fernandez contributed to this report.
