March 28, 2011 | 5:08 PM | By

Murders up in Oakland, San Francisco so far in 2011

FILED UNDER: Police, murder rate, Oakland, Oakland Police Department, San Francisco, San Francisco Police Department

lawreports.co.uk

March is almost at a close in 2011, and a quarter of the way through the year, both Oakland and San Francisco are experiencing a rise in murders. The San Francisco Police Department’s Compstat bulletin for March 26th shows a 42 percent rise in homicides, up to 17 from this point in 12.

Violence is also on the rise across the Bay in Oakland, where 21 people have been killed this year as of March 20. At this point in 2010, 14 murders had taken place in the East Bay’s largest city.

Unlike San Francisco, where shootings and aggravated assaults decreased by 21 and 10 percent, respectively, gunplay is more frequent this year in Oakland. There have been 102 reported instances of shots fired in 2011 so far, compared to 72 by this point in 2010. Oakland Police Chief Anthony Batts has consistently said his department of 662 sworn officers is overworked, and that OPD needs at least 1,200 officers to properly police Oakland. At the most recent hearing on OPD’s ongoing federal oversight, Chief Batts stated that violent crime was beginning to “spike” this year and may continue to do so if OPD’s staffing problems persist.

Residential robberies, another headache for the Oakland Police Department that is occasionally linked with illegal marijuana grows, are from 28 last year to 38. Carjackings are also on the rise (1,130, up from 1,020 in 2001), as is prostitution (95 reported instances, up from 83 at this point last year).

  • Max

    What you call “carjacking” is actually listed on the stats as “motor vehicle theft” there’s a big big difference. “Carjacking” is having your car taken from you by force while you’re in it. Motor vehicle theft is simply having your car stolen, and in these stats, it’s probably overwhelmingly happening by hotwiring, not by carjacking.

    Also, Batt’s number for the cops he needs to adequately police the city is not 1200. It’s in the high 900s.