Pro-Criminal Politicians Unite to Save Oakland From Crime

California Governor Gavin Newsom and Attorney General Rob Bonta, two of the most pro-criminal politicians in state history, have announced that they are partnering to rescue the city of Oakland from its current crime wave. Jakob Rogers of The Mercury News reports that just days after dispatching 120 Highway Patrol officers to beef up Alameda County police, Newsom and Bonta are now sending attorneys from the AG’s office and the National Guard to help progressive District Attorney Pamela Price prosecute criminals. The problem is real. While crime dropped in many California cities last year, it rose dramatically in Oakland. Police report that robberies grew by 38%, burglaries jumped by 23%, while vehicle theft climbed 44%. People living in Oakland faced a 1 in 30 chance of having their car stolen last year. Considering who is leading this rescue effort, and who heads up the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office, it is hard to take this seriously

District Attorney Price is currently facing a recall effort led by Oakland’s NAACP, black church leaders and the county’s large Asian community primarily because of her unwillingness to prosecute criminals. Price received funding from progressive billionaire George Soros to campaign on the promise to reduce the number of criminals sentenced to jail or prison in her fight against “mass incarceration.”  She believes that the criminal justice system is systemically racist and since taking office, has insisted that her deputies seek alternative sentencing for black and Hispanic defendants regardless of what crimes they commit.

Even aggressive law and order District Attorneys such as Sacramento’s Thien Ho and Fresno District Attorney Lisa Smittcamp are unable to fully crack down on crime due to charging and sentencing reform laws supported by Governor Newsom and Attorney General Bonta. Thieves are rarely prosecuted due to Proposition 47, the Soros-bankrolled ballot measure passed in 2014 that turned property felonies into unpunished misdemeanors. Car thieves, commercial burglars, most drug dealers and criminals arrested for domestic violence cannot be sentenced to prison under AB 109, former Governor Jerry Brown’s “Public Safety Realignment” law passed in 2011. Even if these offenders are prosecuted and convicted by Price, who along with Bonta and Newsom have previously called their offenses “low level” crimes, the most they can receive is a short stay in an Alameda jail before being released to an ineffective rehabilitation program.

But even the suggestion that some level of law enforcement might be restored sparked criticism from county Public Defender Brendon Woods. “It’s an absolutely terrible idea,” Woods said. “When we think about where we are right now and where we’re trying to get, all this is going to do is increase the number of people who are Black and brown who are being held in custody. This is a step backwards. It’s going to increase mass incarceration.”

It is difficult to believe that Governor Newsom’s effort to rescue Oakland has a real chance of working.  None of the players are suggesting that the state’s pro-criminal laws be changed. Price has not announced that she is abandoning her de-incarceration policy.

It is more likely that what the public is seeing is a sideshow to distract voters in this election year from the policies responsible for today’s crime wave and the politicians that put them in place and continue to support them.