Feature report: The Crimes of Jack London District
New comers to the Jack London District, especially those looking to purchase property, are often given to wonder how safe it is living here. Long term residents know that even if our streets are sometimes dirty, noisy and in places appear more like an industrial wasteland (aka. "improving" to realtors), we do enjoy the reputation of being the safest area in Oakland. Considering Oakland's propensity for making the news due to its high murder rate this information should be of some comfort. After all we do host Oakland's number one tourist draw (Jack London Square), the Oakland Police Department's headquarters are just the other side of 880, and until last summer even Mayor Brown lived right here next to the Amtrak Station.

Having personally lived in the neighborhood for ten years now I have witnessed little more than a few auto accidents, late night ruckus from our visiting club goers, and the occasional rumor of worse things that happened. Naturally during those ten years I've seen the OPD out in force on many occasions and for a time a few years ago our streets were enjoying heavy policing almost every weekend night. Some local merchants are not happy to see visible police presence as it can scare away some nervous customers, after all if you have no crime why would you have a need for blocked streets and patrol cars at each intersection? Others are happy to see them as they know the OPD are just out there doing their job and keeping us safe.

However this weekend I personally experienced the consequences of a criminal act when my partners car was broken into on 3rd Street. Thieves had apparently tried their best to steal her car but thankfully failed. Ultimately they made off with the radio, a few components from under the hood and left a "thank you" of slashed upholstery, damaged sunroof and dashboard. While I've seen many a pile of broken glass on our streets over the years, having it affect someone you know always brings the ever present risk of crime in our society to the fore. Indeed after this event I was given to wonder just how safe the safest neighborhood in Oakland is.

To answer this question I used the Oakland Police Department's CrimeWatch crime statistics web page, which can divulge information on every reported crime in Oakland since early in 1999 when it was launched. Figures can be further filtered by police beat allowing those particular to our district to be extracted since it largely coincides with police beat 1X (see the OPD beat map).



So far I have found that while Oakland as a whole may be exceeding the rather shocking figure of 100 murders annually (more than 25 per 100,000 cf. 63 per 100,000 in the worlds most dangerous country, Columbia), our little district has seen only 2 in the nearly five year period that statistics are available for. Of course the Jack London District includes just a fraction of the total population of Oakland, but psychologically that figure feels good. Violent and personal crimes of all kinds (including assault, robbery and rape) currently average about two a month and appear to be on the decrease since a peak in late 2001 to mid 2002.

Indeed there seems to have been a general decrease in crime overall since that period when property crimes of all kinds peaked as well bringing a record 52 crimes of all kinds reported in November 2001. Since then the average of all reported crimes has declined to the 20 to 25 per month range. While crimes against property (auto theft and breakins, vandalism, burglary and other theft) contributr the vast majority of the total we still see a few drug related crimes (almost entirely possession - I suspect due to our many visiting party goers) and other miscellaneous crimes (such as abandoned shopping carts and the like).

Of the aforementioned violent personal crimes, using the mapping function of the crime statistics site it is possible to show the approximate location of all the reported crimes. Broadway and areas close to it do seem to be a focus for the personal and violent crimes reported since 1999. Anyone who is alarmed at our statistic of 20 such crimes in 2003 and 28 in 2002 should realize that the national average was around 20 per 1,000 of population in 2003. Even a conservative estimate of the district's population, neglecting workers and visitors, is certainly much higher than that. So inspite of Oakland's bad rap as a whole it does appear that we are doing better than average, and possibly much better for a major urban city.

The only other conclusion I have managed to draw from the crime statistics is that property theft, in particular auto related theft, may be on the increase since Spring of 2004. June, July and August all saw 10 or more auto related thefts and breakins, and also 10 or more non-auto thefts and breakins - both of which are approximately double the monthly rate earlier in the year. I have not been able to compare this with Oakland property crimes as a whole, or in particular our neighboring police beats 3X (Chinatown), 3Y (Old Oakland) and 2X (West Oakland). So we maybe "enjoying" the consequences of an overall rise in Oakland crime, or this could be a particular local effect - either way its something to watch and act on if possible. Jack London News plans to provide an update on the trend in our local crime statistics on a quarterly basis.

All the crime statistics for beat 1X from 1999 through August 2004 are available as monthly and quarterly charts or as a spreadsheet for those of you who would like to do your own number crunching.

In the mean time you can find full contact details for our local beat 1X law enforcement team at http://www.oaklandpolice.com/youroff/beat1x.html. As of writing our police service area commander is Lieutenant Ed Poulson (510-238-7146), the problem solving officers are Linda Slaughter (510-238-7511) and Everett Peterson (238-7511) and our neighborhood services coordinator is Saundra Sanders-West (777-8720). For non-emergency police reports the number is 777-3333, otherwise call 911. Remember that unless you have no alternative it is always better to call from a landline instead of your cellphone. This enables the 911 people to locate you quickly and accurately so they can direct local police resources to your assistance as soon as possible.
Posted 9/19/2004

Jack London District turns out in force out to celebrate National Neighborhood Day

The Jack London District celebrated National Neighborhood Day on Sunday with a community sidewalk sale in the morning, and barbecue and street party in the afternoon.

Inspite of a chilly start due to our traditional Bay Area morning fog, the sidewalk sale was judged a great success with early risers snapping up many bargins. Some sellers finished the morning with virtually nothing left to sell and look forward to returning for the next sidewalk sale.

After the sidewalk sale over fifty people gathered for the barbecue on Alice Street outside of the Egghouse building. The morning fog obligingly lifted and the sun shone while the community enjoyed the feast of burgers, hotdog, baked beans, fruit and cake with a keg of beer thrown in for good measure. Master Chef for the day was Joanna Adler who slaved over a very hot party sized grill to keep the food coming throughout the afternoon.

Before cutting the cake, Wendy Tinsley and Joanna Adler announced the newly formed Jack London District Association and encouraged attendees to suggest and participate in future community activities and events.

The Jack London District Neighborhood Day events were organized by Joanna Adler of Tower Lofts, Wendy Tinsley from Fourth Street Lofts, Gary Knecht of The Egghouse with assistance from many others, donations of fruit by Bay Cities Produce, refreshments from Adison and Gerry Garzon and cakes from an unknown donor. Many other people made donations to help pay for the days festivities and joined in the cleanup activities. The event was underwritten with funding from Jack London Mail.


Posted 9/12/2004