Progressive Oakland District Attorney Pamela Price has been dealt a humiliating blow after California’s Governor announced he is sending state prosecutors to sort out soaring crime levels she has been blamed for.
Price has been accused of allowing violent crime to run rampant in Alameda County by pushing liberal policies such as lower jail terms in a bid to boost ‘equity.’
Crime has continued to spiral under her watch, up by almost 20 percent in 2023 compared to 2019, with businesses including In-N-Out shuttering in the dying city.
In a statement about the project, Newsom admitted that, ‘crime in Oakland is uniquely rising compared to other urban centers in California’. Alameda County has one of the highest crime rates in America compared to all communities of all size, according to Neighborhood Scout.
Pundits suspect Newsom has made the move ahead of a possible presidential bid, knowing that the seemingly never-ending crime wave in Oakland could be used against him by rivals were he to run.
‘As you all know the governor’s office along with the attorney general announced that we are forming a partnership with them to address some of the crime activity that has been happening in Alameda County, particularly Oakland,’ Price said at a press conference.
Progressive Oakland District Attorney Pamela Price is being sent state prosecutors to help clean up the soaring crime rates in the area that have occurred under her watch
California Governor Gavin Newsom said that Oakland ‘is uniquely rising compared to other urban centers’ in the state
Crime has continued to spiral on Price’s watch, up by almost 20 percent in 2023 compared to 2019
‘We appreciate that the governor along with the attorney general has agreed to provide additional resources for the prosecution of violent crime as well as primarily narcotics activities as well as auto theft.’
Price – who faces a recall from locals fed-up of their plummeting quality of living – said her office would be receiving three deputies who would be under the leadership of one of her prosecutors Mike Nieto.
The scheme follows a pilot in San Francisco and will see the agencies working ‘collaboratively’, Price added. The start date is yet to be announced.
‘An arrest isn’t enough. Justice demands that suspects are appropriately prosecuted,’ Newsom said.
‘Whether it’s “bipping” or carjacking, attempted murder or fentanyl trafficking, individuals must be held accountable for their crimes using the full and appropriate weight of the law.’
The scheme comes amid skyrocketing crime rates in the area. Preliminary reports from Oakland indicate that in 2023, violent crime rose 21 percent, robbery increased 38 percent, and vehicle theft increased 45 percent.
Videos of violent car jackings have become commonplace. Last summer horrific video emerged of a woman being pistol-whipped and dragged across gravel by two thugs as part of a car jacking.
The attack on International Boulevard left the unidentified woman with severe injuries, police investigating in the East Bay city said at the time.
An Apple store in Oakland was raided by a customer who yanked multiple iPhones off their stands earlier this week. The Bay Area city has become synonymous with soaring crime and prosecutors seemingly unable to tackle it
Oakland’s only In-N-Out Burger announced it is closing amid a spate of crimes against its patrons, including break-ins such as this
Last month Oakland’s only In-N-Out Burger restaurant announced it is set to close after 18 years, despite still turning a healthy profit, as customers and staff are ‘unsafe’ due to soaring crime rates, the business said.
It is the only In-N-Out burger to close in the chain’s 72 year history, with its departure heaping even more pressure on Oakland officials including Mayor Sheng Thao, a progressive who previously voted to defund the police.
Price was elected DA in 2022 on a progressive platform pledging to seek shorter prison sentences, more lenient criminal charges, and a refusal to charge juveniles as adults.
A leaked memo at the start of 2023 detailed how she was seeking to fulfil her woke campaign promise.
The directive said that probation should be the ‘presumptive offer’ during plea negotiations, and that low-end prison terms should be offered in cases that aren’t eligible for probation – although nearly every crime in the California penal code is eligible for probation.
Price herself was subjected to a robbery from her car back in October when thieves made off with her laptop.
Across the Bay in San Francisco, progressive prosecutor Chesa Boudin was recalled following similar outrage in 2022. Price now looks set to follow in his path to ignominy.
Newsom’s announcement builds on the deployment of 120 CHP officers earlier this week to the East Bay as part of a law enforcement surge operation with allied local agencies.
The surge operation is ‘focused on a multi-pronged approach: targeting auto theft, cargo theft, retail crime, violent crime, and high-visibility traffic enforcement’, according to his office.