Crime Stats, Oakland 2008

8 Responses to “Crime Stats, Oakland 2008”

1. Mike Hardy on June 29th, 2008 11:43 am
   Is there any way to get the 06 and 05 (or maybe even older?) stats?

   The reason I’m curious about them is that it seems like everyone is *recently* saying that crime is out of control etc etc, but the stats make it appear that crime really isn’t spiraling out of control from 07 to 08. The numbers are high, but the differences aren’t so high that it should be causing a great outburst.

   That makes me think that it actually had a big jump from one of the previous years, and by 2007 it was already bad. I wonder if that’s the case…

   Regardless, thanks for posting this up. While I say that the differences aren’t that high, I’m sure any of the parents of the 65 homicide victims would say they’re far too high, and they’d be right
2. Sue on June 29th, 2008 12:29 pm
   V. Smoothe’s article on
   Crime over Time might have the stats you are looking for.

   http://www.abetteroakland.com/crime-over-time/2007-11-14

   Also rockridgeresidents.org posts crime stats done by Vivek
3. V Smoothe on June 29th, 2008 1:21 pm
   Mike -

   That’s doable, although not today. I find the year to date comparisons interesting, which is why I’m posting them (that and because I get a lot of search engine hits from people looking for current Oakland crime statistics), but they aren’t intended as an indication of long-term trends. I suppose I should do an updated version of the crime over time post to incorporate 2007 numbers.

   I second the recommendation of Vivek’s crime posts on rockridgeresidents.org. You have to register to view them, but registration is free.
4. LoveThisTown on June 30th, 2008 9:24 pm
   I wonder if the perception that crime is “out of control” is due to the number of recent high profile cases, such as the restaurant robberies, and where these crimes were/are occurring.

   For example, I’ve lived in Eastlake for over a decade and last year was the first time I’d heard of so many armed robberies in this area. I know four people in a two block radius of my house who got robbed last year, my next door neighbor got mugged a couple months ago, and there was an attempted robbery at the liquor store down the street in April (this was the one where an employee ended up shooting the robber).
5. avis on July 1st, 2008 10:04 pm
   What these numbers do not reflect is all the crimes that don’t get reported. My vehicle has been broken into 5 times in the last 12 months, but only the the first incident was ever reported to the OPD and I’m not sure that really was either since I never filled out and returned the form they sent me. In fact, I never call the police for much of anything anymore. When a man was shot in front of my house a couple yrs ago I did call the OPD, but that is about the only thing I call for anymore because I don’t really expect the cops to show up in a timely manner, if at all and I don’t like sitting on hold waiting for a 911 operator.

   Recently I had a crime issue in Alameda, I dealt with it on my own and went on about my day. I mentioned it that evening to a friend who lives in Alameda, she was aghast that I had not contacted the Alameda PD and she called them on the spot. They actually called me back at my home in Oakland, took a full report on the phone and even gave me phone numbers to call if this ever happens again. I guess I have forgotten what it is like to live in a normal place, with normal city services. Living in Oakland has trained me to never call the cops unless there is a dead body in front of the house. Sad state of affairs.
6. Joanna/OnTheGoJo on July 1st, 2008 10:19 pm
   Avis,

   Indeed, the incident only gets added to the stats if you return the form all filled out. I always encourage people to fill out the form even if they’re not reporting it to their insurance co. If you don’t report it doesn’t get counted.
7. Robert on July 1st, 2008 11:24 pm
   avis - I think your attitude to reporting crive in Oakland is reasomable, since the last time I talked to an officer after an incident the response was, to paraphrase, “nobody was hurt, we really won’t spend any time nvestigating,” But, if it is not reported, then it doesn’t get added to the crime statistics, and we are actually underestimating the extrodinarily high crive rate in Oakalnd.
8. VivekB on July 5th, 2008 12:50 am
   Thanks for the props. FYI on the crime growth over 2005; i didn’t do the breakdown like VS did, but if you see here: (http://www.rockridgeresidents.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=358&Itemid=30) you’ll see that Oakland-wide violent crime median reports per month is up 77% from 2005. That, to me personally, is something to be incredibly concerned about. NOTE: I showed a 12% increase in violent crime over 2007, although that could be because my buckets vary from VS’s. I got a list of actual penal codes that are considered “crimes against a person” from OPD, it feels like my list may be larger than what is shown above. I counted all crimes in those codes, it’s a long list of penal codes but I can put them up online if folks are interested.

   I’ve got all crime data from 2005->current, except 2006 cuz I can’t find it, loaded up in an Access db. It has penal codes, dates, times in it. That thread above has a link to a 12 page PDF with tons of graphs, if you want something let me know.