Oakland has the data: Ceasefire cut gun violence in half by targeting the 0.5% driving it, Flock cameras slashed carjackings 66%, and the Coliseum site could anchor a real recovery. Instead, the city let Ceasefire lapse, runs the thinnest police force in America solving 1-in-200 property crimes, botched a $125M stadium sale — and now the City Council wants voters to approve a 125% pay raise to $318K per member while running a nine-figure deficit.
Read Top Post →Researchers proved that less than 0.5% of Oakland’s population drives the majority of its gun violence — and that Oakland Ceasefire cut shooting victimizations by 50% between 2012 and 2017 by targeting those specific networks. The city had already spent $80M on broader prevention programs that didn’t move the needle. The playbook exists. The question is whether leaders who want $318K salaries will run it.
Apr 09, 2026 · 5 min
Three weeks after the crime numbers landed, the Coliseum debacle drove the point home. Oakland lost the Raiders, Warriors, and A’s over 13 years, and now the $125M sale of the empty stadium is collapsing as buyer OAC misses repeated payment deadlines. Council President Kevin Jenkins proposed an emergency joint meeting — echoing a hopeful 2013 session, except now there’s nothing left to plan around.
Jan 27, 2026 · 3 min
Oakland’s property crime rate is the worst in America — double San Francisco’s, triple San Jose’s — and OPD solves just 0.5% of cases, one-fourteenth the peer-city average. The force is down to 509 sworn officers, the fewest per crime of any major U.S. city. Flock cameras helped cut carjackings 66%, but technology can’t substitute for a department running on fumes.
Jan 05, 2026 · 2 min
