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Earlier this week, the California Department of Justice released its annual report, “Homicide in California.” This most recent report, a good barometer for the state of violent crime, shows the homicide rate, now at 4.7 per 100,000 people, dropping for a fifth consecutive year to reach its lowest point since 1966. Other interesting facts from the report include:
While Monterey and Merced counties had some of the highest homicide rates in the state, the Bay Area’s rates also remained above average: Alameda County registered a 8.3 homicide rate and San Francisco 5.6.
The most deadly days of the week in California are Saturdays and Sundays.
Of those deaths where a cause was identifiable, 71.2 percent of homicides were caused by a firearm.
The vast majority (87.7 percent) of those arrested for homicide in 2010 were male.
Almost half (48.7 percent) of homicide arrestees were Hispanic, while 25.3 percent were Black, and 17.9 percent were White.
Meanwhile, of those convicted of homicide in California in 2010, 34 were sent to Death Row, brining the condemned population in California to 709. Ten of those sentenced to death this year came from Los Angeles County.
Protester Zachary Runningwolf and Oakland Police officer Holmgren await a final legal call on whether or not to allow a tee-pee at Frank Ogawa plaza.
By Julia Lundberg
A “new occupation” set off Tuesday at Frank Ogawa Plaza in Oakland: a group of people started up a 24/7 vigil outside City Hall. Kicking things off, a group yesterday attempted to erect a symbolic tee-pee (a conical Native American tent) to remind the public of historic struggles, while also commemorating the former Occupy camp. It quickly became obvious that the city will not allow anything resembling an encampment, as they rushed to stop the protesters. After some legal negotiations, the tee-pee was issued a permit to be erected between 6 am and 10 pm for the coming three days.
Wednesday evening will see more action. The scene for Occupy Oakland’s General Assembly, which typically is held at Frank Ogawa plaza, will instead be at the Fruitvale Bart station. It will be accompanied by a rally to protest what demonstrators call the criminalization and incarceration of people in poor communities, and it is in solidarity with Occupy Phoenix’s attempt to shut down ALEC, America Legisative Exchange Council.
On last night’s show, we checked in with Oakland Mayor Jean Quan about her decision to dismantle the Occupy Oakland camp in Frank Ogawa Plaza. And we checked in with KALW’s Ali Winston, who’s been covering the movement in Oakland. Transcript after the jump.
An unidentified man meditates in front of police tape cordoning off a murder scene in Frank Ogawa Plaza on Nov. 10, 2011.
Use of force by police undeniably an issue in Oakland, as demonstrated by the injuries sustained by Scott Olsen, Kayvan Sabeghi and several other protesters, apparently at the hands of police over the past few weeks during clashes with Occupy Oakland supporters. Street violence is also a familiar story in Oakland – last night’s murder was a tragically familiar narrative. Reportedly, the shooting stemmed from a physical altercation between two groups of young African-American men earlier that day over a marijuana deal. Yesterday afternoon, one of the people involved returned with a posse, chased the young man through the camp, and beat him before shooting him multiple times in the head.
As expected, Oakland politicians such as East Oakland Councilmember Larry Reid and Mayor Jean Quan took the shooting as conclusive evidence that Occupy Oakland must pack up and go. The Oakland Police Officers’ Association also weighed in with their own open letter to Occupy Oakland this morning. Oakland politics treat murder as an immutable fact that needs to be spun to particular political means. Continue reading →
If you haven’t seen it already today, Downtown Oakland is a mess. The tail-end of yesterday’s General Strike degenerated into violence, vandalism and looting following a successful shutdown of the evening shift at the Port of Oakland by tens of thousands of marchers. Windows at City Hall were smashed, buildings were covered in graffiti, and trash burned at the intersection of 16th and Telegraph following an attempt to occupy the foreclosed building of the Traveler’s Aid Society, an organization that aided the homeless.
The Black Blocs that touched off the property destruction in the afternoon at the downtown banks and 27th Street Whole Foods and that fired M80 firecrackers at a line of riot police late that evening had strong contingents of out-of-town anarchists (a group of masked demonstrators were overheard speaking Greek amongst themselves). Eighty people were arrested by the Oakland Police Department, with the assistance of an undetermined number of Contra Costa and Alameda law enforcement agencies called in on mutual aid (again).
It remains to be seen how last night’s events will affect Occupy Oakland and the broader Occupy Wall Street movement. Yesterday’s violence and property destruction has been widely condemned by Occupy Oakland, and there is talk of the camp participating in the ongoing cleanup efforts. Tonight’s City Council meeting at 5:30 PM on Occupy Oakland will provide the best indication of how authorities will approach the encampment in the aftermath of the General Strike
During a 2 PM anti-capitalist march from Occupy Oakland’s main camp in Frank Ogawa Plaza up Broadway and along Grand and Lakeshore Avenues, a black bloc of several dozen smashed the windows of branches of Chase and Bank of America. The Lakeshore Avenue Whole Foods, which reportedly threatened to fire any employee who walked off the job during today’s General Strike, was also vandalized with paint.
Rumors of a shutdown this morning are not holding up: the Port of Oakland is open today, though slower than usual. Much of the backup in trucks at the port appears to be the result of earlier issues with containers imported from Vietnam. Truckers we spoke to at the scene said they had been waiting for days to offload.
Meanwhile, on the southern end of the port, things seemed to be a bit quieter than usual, with fewer cranes operating and a lot of unused vehicles lined up. According to NBC Bay Area, which spoke with the International Longshoreman and Warehouse Union, about 40 people did not show up for work today.
