The North Oakland gang injunction has not reduced violent crime, according to a report by the Oakland Police Department that shows homicides, assaults and other serious crimes have risen in the safety zone area defined by the injunction, and arrests for weapons and drugs are way down.
In the informational report to the city's Public Safety Committee Tuesday, the Oakland Police department evaluated the overall effectiveness of the gang injunction on 15 named individuals since it was first implemented in June 2010. The report is not the independent analysis requested by the City Council, and the committee took no action, however, the data did provide an opening for another debate over the merits of the gang injunction.
Oakland Police Lt. Freddie Hamilton reported that the increase in Part 1 crimes such as homicides and assaults, and the decrease in gun and drug arrests could be attributed to the fact that the city laid off 80 police officers a month after the injunction took effect, and the subsequent reassignment of the problem-solving officers whose responsibility it was to oversee the injunction strategy.
Before the gang injunction went into effect there were 123 violent crimes, including two homicides, between April 4, 2009 and June 1, 2010. After the injunction was implemented there were 176 violent crimes, including three homicides, between June 2, 2010 and Oct. 6, 2011. Weapons arrests dropped 58 percent and drugs arrests fell 71 percent from the two time periods.
However, Hamilton said that the injunction successfully reduced the number of gang-related incidents within the safety zone. Hamilton also said that crime statistics are not the only measure of success, as community leaders have noted that there is a sense that criminal activity appears to have declined since the start of the injunction.
Either way, it appears as though the injunction is pushing the pain elsewhere. Only one of the seven gang members arrested since the start of the injunction was within the safety zone. The rest were arrested in other parts of Oakland or in other cities.
According to the staff report, a gang member identified only as "YY" was arrested twice outside the safety zone for assault, possession of a gun, evading police in a car chase, possession of a loaded gun in public, ex-felon in possession of a gun and unlawful possession of ammunition.
Another gang member identified only as "ET" was arrested in Hayward for possession of stolen property, possession of a loaded gun, destruction of evidence, and ex-felon in possession of a firearm. And yet another identified as "AS" was arrested outside the safety zone for kidnapping, carjacking, terrorist threats, and corporal injury to spouse.
Isaac Ontiveros of the Stop the Injunctions Coalition, said the report is evidence the injunction is not working the way the city said it would.
"Civil gang injunctions are costly and expensive ... violent behavior is simply being pushed to outlying areas," he said.
The total police costs thus far to investigate and set up the injunction are slightly more than $133,000, with none of it coming from overtime. However, more than $1 million has been spent by the city in legal fees to defend the North Oakland and Fruitvale gang injunctions.
Charlie Arpe, a nurse who lives in the safety zone, said the residents don't feel any safer.
"It's an expensive waste of Oaklander's money," he said.
But Paul Junge, public policy director for the Oakland Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce, said the business community supports the injunction, despite the statistics that show that violent crime has not decreased.
"It's a reasonable conclusion that it seems to be effective if only because 15 gang members did not commit crimes in the safety zone," he said.
Leila Moncharsh, an attorney, said that despite the problems with the report and inconsistent comparison methodology, she supports the gang injunction.
"This gang injunction is about 15 convicted felons who are not interested in restorative justice ... or music lessons," she said. "This is one method directed at this specific group of 15 guys."
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