Oakland Opens Its Doors To Keep Kids Off The Street
OAKLAND (KCBS) – The city of Oakland is introducing a new program that is meant to keep young people off the street on weekend nights.
Late Night Live was developed by the Oakland Unified School District and is designed to keep some recreation centers, gyms and high schools open on Friday and Saturday nights.
Oakland Unified School District Police Chief Pete Sarna came up with the idea after determining that most teen homicides occur on those nights.
KCBS' Bob Melrose Reports:
Helping Mayor Jean Quan introduce the program was Olympic boxing champion and Bay Area resident Andre Ward, who trains in the city.
"When you have obstacles that seem insurmountable, like they do sometimes in Oakland, the tendency is to say, what can one person do or one project do," Ward said. "But I really take my hat off to the mayor for taking the first step. That's the hardest part of the journey."
Activities offered at Late Night Live include sports, music performances, computer classes and digital media arts training.
McClymonds High School and the Rainbow Recreation Center were the first partners to open this weekend.
The participating facilities plan to open their doors from 8 p.m. to midnight.
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