Vehicle Thefts in Oakland Increase by Nearly 50 Percent

An Oakland Police patrol car sits in front of the Oakland Police headquarters in Oakland, Calif., on Dec. 6, 2012. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Vehicle thefts in the City of Oakland increased by 45 percent in 2023 compared to 2022, according to statistics from the city’s police department—another indication, some say, that recent policies regarding crime and safety in the city are failing.

In total, about 15,000 vehicles were stolen last year, or an average of one theft for about every 30 residents.

Oakland ranked first in the nation for auto thefts in 2019, according to a study in summer 2023 by the financial website MarketWatch. Some locals are laying blame for the uptick in crime on the city’s leadership, which they say has led to a weakened police force and more crime.

Retired Alameda County Superior Court Judge Brenda Harbin-Forte, an Oakland resident and former member of the Oakland Police Commission, recently initiated a recall effort to remove Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao, who she says is to blame for many of Oakland’s issues.

The mayor’s “dismantling” of the city’s police department—in part by removing former Police Chief LeRonne Armstrong and stalling the selection of a new chief, among other issues—has led to innocent lives lost as crime spirals out of control in the city, she told The Epoch Times.

Ms. Harbin-Forte asserted in a text message that she was removed from the Oakland Police Commission in June 2023 by Ms. Thao, because “the mayor said she wanted her own appointees on the commission.”

In addition to vehicle thefts, other crimes have increased recently in the city.

In 2023, Oakland saw an 11 percent rise in homicides from 2022, according to police data, totaling 126. Assault with a firearm also increased by 12 percent, burglaries by 23 percent, and robberies by 38 percent.

“It’s just a failure of leadership. As we’ve said, there’s too many lives that have been lost, and this mayor has blood on her hands,” Ms. Harbin-Forte said.

Other issues, which were included in an official notice of intent to recall that was mailed to Ms. Thao, include the mayor’s missing a deadline for a grant to combat retail theft and the alleged nonenforcement of Oakland’s encampment management policy, leading to more open-air drug use, homeless encampments, and auto chop shops.

Community advocate Seneca Scott, a resident who is one of the recall’s organizers, told The Epoch Times that he believes the police chief’s removal—which the mayor has said was because of Mr. Armstrong’s failure to discipline some officers who had committed misconduct—has also played a part in the uptick in crime.

He blames city policies that have lowered police staffing.

“We have no law enforcement presence to match [criminals]—to stop them,” he said.

Mr. Scott is the founder of Neighbors Together Oakland, a grassroots organization of residents advocating for a safer city. Among other activities, it sends a newsletter to members highlighting Oakland’s crime trends.

One recent newsletter included information by the volunteer-based Oakland Report that cited a 2017 policy of stopping fewer drivers for infractions as having resulted in 80 percent fewer stops, thus adding to the increase in some crimes.

The May 2020 killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis led to city policies to reduce police involvement in the community, such as the then-city council’s decision to divert the city’s police resources by 50 percent to alternative programs, according to Oakland Unified School District teacher and neighborhood leader Jacob Rukin, author of the recent Oakland Report.

The police budget was cut by $14.3 million in 2020 and $17 million in 2021, and 120 additional officer positions were cut in the most recent FY 2023–2025 budget, according to the study.

According to the report, Oakland’s latest budget allows for 710 sworn police officers—or 1.6 per 1,000 residents—falling short of the national average of 2.4 per 1,000 residents, Mr. Rukin wrote.

He pointed to the policy of deploying civilians from the community instead of police for low-level crimes or some calls for service, including issues regarding the homeless, which has led to a weakened police force and more crime.

However, according to city officials, that program—called the Mobile Assistance Community Responders of Oakland—is intended to save costs for the city’s police and fire departments, and its budget will be increased to $9 million in 2024 from $3.1 million in 2023.

Critics say that the program, funded through state and city resources, is costing more than it’s saving; an Oakland Report analysis estimates that the program is saving police $532,000 each year, while costing five times more than that.

According to the city’s website, no cost analysis of the program has been completed, but the program responded to 367 incidents in 2023, with 78 of them coming from police dispatch and eight coming from the fire department.

The Oakland Police Department didn’t respond by press time to a request for comment.