A frustrated and angry crowd of residents and business owners from a liberal California city voiced their concerns as they fear for their lives amid an ongoing crime problem sweeping the state.
Over 500 people attended a community meeting on crime and violence in Oakland after the city saw 100 robberies in just a week, with 50 happening on a single weekend.
The crowd shouted at the officials hosting the meeting, accusing them of repeatedly ignoring the issue plaguing the city, driving thousands of residents out of the area.
District One City Council member Dan Kalb, interim Oakland Police Department Captain Jeff Thomason, and acting Chief of the Department of Violence Prevention Kentrell Killens outlined steps they were going to take to cut down on the crime – which includes assaults, carjackings, and shootings – after residents shared terrifying stories of what happened to them.
One business owner said he and his staff were held at gunpoint four times in the past six years, while another resident claimed she was brutally beaten on the corner of a well-known street.
"We need to stop the violence and killers. We're coming after you all," one person said, adding that the city needs to send a zero-tolerance message to criminals.
According to Oakland police statistics, robberies have increased by seven percent within the last year. However, officials say the crime problem is "multi-tiered" and will require more than fixing police issues.
Following the meeting, Kalb said that the city would "try" to fix the ongoing crime situation affecting not only Oakland but many Democrat-led states.
Murder rates in major U.S. cities have soared more than 10 percent in the last two years — with most homicides occurring in Democratic areas with soft-on-crime policies— according to a study released by WalletHub.
Memphis, Tennesse; New Orleans, Louisiana; Richmond, Virginia; Washington, DC; and Detroit, Michigan, suffer from the biggest homicide rate problems, all led by left-wing mayors.
The study compared the rise in murder rates in 45 of the nation's most populated cities between 2021 and 2023 and found that killings were rising faster in Democrat-led cities than in Republican states.
Chidike Okeem, an assistant professor at Western New England University, blamed the issue on liberal, progressive cities that push social movements that aim to defund the police.
"In response to the social unrest, some officers have embraced 'de-policing,' which is the idea of not engaging in proactive policing practices to avoid increased scrutiny and censure. However, without pronounced police presence, violence proliferates," Okeem said.
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