Oakland police will not longer respond to these crimes

General General Discussion
1

I did a search and didn’t find anyone else posting on this so hopefully I didn’t miss it. I find this to be pretty stunning news. I’m not normally concerned with what people do as far as arming themselves but they better do so in Oakland if they can.

I’m paraphrasing the article. You have to wonder how many other cities are going to be in this situation soon.

http://cbs5.com/local/Oakland.loses.nearly.2.1805474.html

80 Oakland Police Officers Laid Off
(7/14/2010)
The City of Oakland, one of the nation’s most crime-ridden cities, faced the first day Wednesday of the grim reality of a smaller police force — after laying off almost 10 percent of its officers.
Police have released a list of crimes — including grand theft, burglary, vehicle collision, identity theft and vandalism — that officers would not respond to in person due to the layoffs.
Victims would have to report those and other crimes online.

2

LOL

That is simply awesome!

Whats next on the chopping block? Rape? Murder? Kidnapping?

Hey, guess what, a couple of guys from our company got laid-off a couple of years ago and I had to take over a few projects. No one in our company told our clients that “we downsized so their building projects will no longer be supervised by us, good luck with the contractor on your own.”

This is BS

3

The HITS just keep on coming… PERFECT !

4

The taxes they get from marijuana sales will get they all back and lower crime. (seriously)

5

I read about this when it first hit the news. What happens if you don’t have a computer or online access? Maybe they can rehire those 80 Officers with the extra tax dollars they’ll be making from their COSTCO sized marijuana production that just passed. End of thread: https://www.m4carbine.net/showthread.php?t=50297&page=5

6

Never happen, and what you are suggesting is the problem, not the solution

CA needs to completely rethink its current way of governing, not look for new taxable avenues.

7

So basically they announced to the world that Oakland is the Disneyland for those types of criminals!! :rolleyes:

8

Extortion for union pushed pension plans probably.

9

I’m going to throw a little logic in here since everyone else is jumping to the conclusion that Oakland police will not be responding to crimes. I think the intent here is that the department will not respond to certain calls that just require making a report. They will still probably respond to “in progress” calls.

Chicago has a similar system. Some reports can be made over the phone and detectives will follow up depending on what kind of case it is and if the victim stays in contact. 911 will encourage some callers to go to a police station to make a report. Traffic accident reports are supposed to be made at police stations if both cars are still drivable. Calls of domestic batteries will get a police response whether the offender is still on scene or not. This helps alleviate some of the workload, but the amount of BS calls combined with understaffing still means longer response times. AND don’t forget that police are still supposed to be PROactive as well.

As the world keeps tanking and the wrong people are in charge, the citizens and police everywhere are all losing out.

10

Screw that. This is perfect. CA is a virtual loser magnet. Think of all the trash that will migrate there from other states.

11

The listed crimes that the Oakland PD will no longer send an officer to in person are property crimes where the suspect has left. In these instances the officers were responding to simply take a report. For instance, a person comes home from work and finds that their mountain bike was taken from their back porch or some kids spray painted the wall behind their house. No evidence was left behind and their are no witnesses to the incident. If an officer responds to the residence, that officer takes what the victim says and writes a report about it, maybe including the serial number of the bicycle in the off chance that the victim wrote it down…many times the only purpose the report serves is for the victim to file an insurance claim since there really isn’t anything to follow-up on. Under the new policy the victim would file a report on-line or in-person at a police station, including serial numbers of any property taken and a detective would later read the report to see if anything could be done to further investigate the incident. If not the case would be closed. Serial numbers would still be listed in state and nation-wide databases and the case would be reopened if the property turned up in someone’s possession. This frees up on-duty patrol officers to take crimes against persons or crimes in progress in a more timely manner.

Now, will this policy lead to fewer arrests for these property crimes? Sure, officers won’t respond to the scene to dust for fingerprints, take photos, etc. However, in my experience the impact will be minimal since the percentage of the time that the collection of fingerprint evidence, photos, etc. lead to an arrest is minuscule.

12

Indeed!

But as others have said, IF it’s that only incidents requireing a police report and nothing more will be the ones no longer resonded too. I happen to agree.

A cop is much better utilised daling with real crime than taking down a report about a fender bender.

As for the pot debate, come on guys, is it really that evil? Alcahol is okay to purchase and consume, pot does not more damage than beer/wine/liquor. Sell it legally for recreational use, and tax the shit out of it like cigarettes. Will it solve CA’s debt problems? No. Will it help? Sure.

The US started the "War on Drugs when? almost 30 years ago, did it work, hell no. Now I understand dealing with drugs like Coke, Heroin, PCP, Meth and so on, but pot? Come on. Let them smoke it and pay for it.

13

Nothing new here, and not unique to CA. Many small and large metro agencies already direct people to on-line reporting, don’t respond to certain property crimes, won’t handle prop-damage only MVAs, and similar offenses.

Many jurisdictions have ceased handling fuel thefts/drive-offs, bad checks, and certain similar promise-to-pay offenses and now regard them as civil matters. Even if the cops still handle them, the prosecuting attorney may no longer charge them.

Many have also ceased handling of private nuisance offenses. Neighbor’s music too loud, and you’re the only complainant? Some will tell you to go next door and knock.

Then there’s multi-family housing problems. Complaints within the trailer court or apartment complex? Some will tell you to notify management, it’s private property.

In cases of fraud, theft, identity theft, and like offenses, the use of pre-report checklists is becoming increasingly common, even in the most responsive, PR-oriented agencies. When citizens report those, they are given a list of things to assemble and forms to fill out, and only when they’re complete will the report be taken.

There have been issues in some communities when citizens either could not report via web, could not go to a location to report, or could not participate in gathering the required pre-reqs for the report. Agencies should be careful to make the necessary accomodations.

Some are good things, some not. All are at least risky for PR, especially if done poorly.

14

Don’t you mean have?

15

hope a lot of illegals from PHX head their :slight_smile: heheheheheh

16

Ummmm, no.

Loud music is something they no longer respond to. That means they won’t stop it anymore. That means you have to deal with it. Nobody comes to stop them.

And the others aren’t “after the fact” crimes. If somebody is vandalizing your property right now, they aren’t coming out. You go down and fill out a police report. They don’t come make anyone stop vandalizing your property.

Same as a vehicle accident you just had. They aren’t responding anymore, you go down a fill out a report.

You are looking out the window at somebody stealing your car right now? Well they aren’t coming out, nobody is gonna stop them. Come down and fill out a report.

Basically anything where you are not in immediate and imminent danger, they aren’t gonna do a damn thing. Come down and fill out a report.

Oakland has perfected “Don’t make me do my job” policing.

17

Agreed. If all the Police in Oakland are going to do is be bodyguards 15-30 minutes after you need them and investigate property crimes at the point that the vast majority can’t or won’t be solved what is the point of having a Police Department? You might as well fire them all.

This is a classic example of punishing the taxpayer for not wanting to pay through the nose for something they can’t afford.

18

Is pot really that evil? Ask BPA Alexander Kirpnick’s mom. Ask BPA’s Juan Villa and Chris Brinkoff if pot is evil (Both Newton-Azrak award winners, oh BTW, Google why Newton and Azrak were killed). Ask Mendocino County Sheriff Tom Allman the root cause of 100% of the office’s homicides and armed robberies the last two years. Yeah, legalizing weed will make everything better.

19

I wonder if they will respond to a burglary call if the burglar (or his body) is still there.

20

I am not aware of any law enforcement agency that, due to layoffs, reduced the types of crimes they respond to that has also limited the officers’ response to the same crimes if they are in progress. As the article didn’t go into specifics, I assumed that the Oakland PD would still respond to in progress crimes. Let’s say you are correct. Would you agree that if the crime was not in progress (for example you came home and found that someone had stolen your bike) that it would be a waste of resources to send an officer to take the report? They would only be documenting what you told them, something you could easily do yourself. Wouldn’t those resources be better utilized responding to crimes that are in progress or are of a more serious nature?

Your last comment about “Don’t make me do my job” makes me believe that you don’t understand the nature of police work. The article stated that Oakland PD laid off 10% of it’s force. A given patrol division has only a finite number officers working any given shift that is now reduced because of the layoffs. Calls are prioritized based on, to put it simply, the level of threat to the public. Obviously, a person being assaulted is a higher priority than say, your example of someone stealing a car. In one case a person is being physically injured, in the other a person’s possession is being stolen. With a reduction in manpower the division may not even have enough officers to respond to the crimes against persons in a timely manner. By the time an officer is able to respond to the property or quality of life crimes you listed they may be several hours old. Now what good does it do to send an officer out then? They are going to simply document in a report what had happened, something the victim could easily do themselves. These resources are better utilized responding to crimes against persons, in progress crimes, or patrolling in an effort to deter crime.

Your post makes it seem that you believe the Oakland PD is no longer responding to these calls because they are too lazy or don’t want to. In fact, the reductions stem from a cut in the department’s manpower, forcing them to make decision to how more efficiently utilize their resources.

I suspect the real culprit in all of this is a city government that, much like our federal government, mismanaged it’s taxpayers dollars and is now making the citizens pay the price.