Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) will send 120 additional California Highway Patrol officers to Oakland and the East Bay to combat rising crime.
The increase in CHP officers will be equipped with license plate readers, K-9 units, and air support targeting theft and retail crime that have forced businesses to close their doors across the eastern side of the San Francisco Bay area.
“As crime rates across California decrease — including right across the Bay in San Francisco — Oakland is seeing the opposite trend,” Newsom said in a statement. “What’s happening in this beautiful city and surrounding area is alarming and unacceptable.”
Reinforcement comes as the effort to recall Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao is underway, with many blaming the Democratic mayor for the city’s high crime rates. A group led by a retired Alameda County Superior Court judge and former member of the Police Commission announced in January it has started the process of collecting 250 signatures for an official notice. As stated in a letter, the group blamed Thao for “systematically dismantling” the Oakland Police Department and said she lacked “the competency, credibility, judgment and ability to lead what was once a great American city.”
In a statement to the San Francisco Chronicle, Thao called the additional CHP officers “a game-changer in helping us hold more criminals accountable and make Oakland safer.”
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Citing crime concerns, millions have been spent on recall efforts launched six months ago to oust Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price. Organizers will need to collect 73,195 signatures to get the recall effort on the ballot by mid-March.
Oakland has consistently ranked as one of the most dangerous cities in the nation in recent years. A report from 2023 by MoneyGeek analyzed FBI crime statistics from 2021 and ranked Oakland the 11th most dangerous city to live in the United States. Last year, reports of violent crime in Oakland increased 21% compared to 2022.
