By Paul Chambers
In an all-hands-on-deck meeting, Oakland Police Department (OPD) Chief LeRonne L. Armstrong challenged his command staff to bring a different approach to fighting crime, with the goal of an immediate impact on the safety of residents, visitors, and businesses in Oakland.
Amid the deadliest week this year with eight lives lost, Armstrong deployed additional officers on overtime Sunday to reduce the amount of gun violence. To date, OPD has investigated 96 homicides, compared to 102 lives lost by this same time last year.
Although homicides are down slightly over last year, Armstrong added eight officers permanently to the Criminal Investigation Division (CID). The increase in staffing will lead to more criminal investigations and a higher number of solved cases, in turn keeping violent offenders from committing additional crimes in our city.
In the coming weeks, OPD will deploy all available resources throughout the city in a coordinated effort to enforce crimes associated with gun violence in Oakland. OPD will also restart the traffic enforcement unit and continue working with our federal and local law enforcement partners to support gun violence enforcement.
OPD has investigated 360 assaults with a firearm this year, compared to 465 incidents this time last year, which is a 23% reduction citywide. This year, officers are also on track to recover an astounding number of firearms. So far, OPD officers have safely taken 1,132 firearms off city streets, compared to 1199 during all of 2021.
OPD will add up to 50 officers with the successful graduation of the 189th and 190th Basic Academies in October and February.
OPD remains focused on proven violent crime prevention strategies such as Ceasefire to also address gun violence. The Department continues to rely on intelligence-led policing with the department’s Crime Gun Intelligence Center (CGIC), and the Violent Crime Operations Center (VCOC), leading focused enforcement and apprehension efforts.
Paul Chambers is the strategic communications manager for the Oakland Police Department.
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