New Year Off To Deadly Start On Oakland Streets; Police Urge Residents 'To Put The Guns Down'
OAKLAND (CBS SF) -- In the wake of a year with 109 homicides, Oakland police pleaded with local residents 'to put the guns down' after 2021 has gotten off to a violent start with 11 slaying so far including seven in the last seven days.
The department continues to direct resources to areas most impacted by violence and trauma to deter further violence.
"We are again asking our community to stand with us -- to put the guns down and end the violence," police officials posted on Twitter. "We ask each of you, if you know something say something. Working together with the community we can help stop the tragic loss of life in our city."
Last year, Oakland suffered through its deadliest year in close to a decade. In an effort stem the violence, police officials were
working with Mayor Libby Schaaf and the independent Department of Violence Prevention and community partners to identify additional strategies to focus the attention towards reducing gun violence.
"We understand this has impacted the entire city," said deputy police chief LeRonne Armstrong. "Oakland is not alone. Obviously, violence has increased in many cities across the country. The mayor is providing her support with resources for anything we can provide for families impacted by this trauma."
Armstrong said "there was no particular thing driving the violence."
According to statistics the department shared on Twitter this week -- police have logged 183 activations of its ShotSpotter monitoring system from Jan. 11 to 17, up 102 percent in the year to date, and officers had recovered 36 crime-linked firearms so far this year, up 24 percent from last year.
The Oakland Police Department and Crime Stoppers of Oakland are offering reward money for any information leading to an arrest in any or each of these cases. Reward money can be up to $10,000 for each arrest. Tip Line is (510) 238-7950.
