9 months ago
Gov. Gavin Newsom is broadening a push to crack down on crime in Oakland, dispatching prosecutors to bolster a newly deployed force of California Highway Patrol officers.
The effort announced Thursday reflects growing public frustration in the city east of San Francisco where surging violent and property crime have roiled the political climate and fueled recall drives.
It also illustrates how rising crime concerns throughout California have become a political liability, drawing the attention of Newsom, Attorney General Rob Bonta, and Democratic state legislators.
“The narrative around crime and lawlessness in Oakland is out of control and it clearly got the attention of both the governor and the attorney general,” said Justin Berton, a political consultant who worked for former Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf and lives in the city.
“The national story about Oakland is horrific right now, so that’s going to rub off on Rob Bonta and Gavin Newsom, and clearly their offices decided ‘no more.’”
Further underscoring the political shift, San Francisco Mayor London Breed and San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan on Thursday endorsed a ballot measure, spearheaded by a coalition of retailers and prosecutors, to roll back a prior voter-passed initiative, Proposition 47, by increasing penalties for property and drug crimes. Democratic mayors embraced the more stringent approach just four years after voters decisively rejected a similar ballot measure.
Those changing political dynamics are manifesting in Oakland, a city of more than 400,000 where a surge in carjackings and shootings have galvanized voters, led local businesses to close, and spurred major employers to step up security measures.
Newsom decried the “alarming and unacceptable” when he announced a surge of 120 CHP officers earlier this week — one of the largest such operations of his tenure. Bonta, a possible contender for governor in 2026 who hails from the Oakland area, lauded the partnership between his office and local prosecutors.
“The East Bay is my home, and I'm committed to ensuring that the people of Oakland can live and work in a safe community,” Bonta said in a statement.
Statewide help is arriving as local elected officials face a powerful backlash. Fed-up citizens are pushing to recall Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao and Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price, who ran on a platform of reducing sentencing and incarceration.
While Price has tended to dismiss her critics as entrenched foes of rethinking criminal justice policies, she has praised state collaboration to bolster efforts against organized retail crime and fentanyl.
Price’s woes have become a familiar story as a movement to overhaul criminal justice collides with crime fears. Across the bay, San Francisco voters recalled former District Attorney Chesa Boudinin 2022. Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón is slogging through a fiercely contested reelection bid after riding a racial reckoning to an upset victory in 2020.
Property crime, though still well below historic highs, is also poised to be a major focus for the Legislature this year. Democrats see the issue as a quality-of-life issue for rattled constituents.
Democratic Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas has launched a committee dedicated to retail theft and signaled he is open to making changes to Proposition 47, a measure passed by voters in 2014 that reduced penalties for some non-violent offenses.
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