Frustration, Anger Grows Among Residents Over Weekend Oakland Sideshows
OAKLAND (CBS SF) -- The frustration over weekend illegal Oakland sideshows has reached a tipping point among neighborhood residents who have grown tired of their sleep being disrupted by squealing cars and their safety being threatened by random gunfire.
Over the weekend, two sideshows carried over into the early morning hours of Sunday. Two young men were wounded while being among the bystanders watching a sideshow at International Boulevard and 98th Avenue.
Oakland police said the shooting happened around 12:45 a.m. They said the young men were expected to recover from their wounds. The two are victims of a growing trend of gun violence at the illegal gatherings. So far this year in Oakland, at least five people have been wounded at sideshows.
Fed up residents said the police department and the city leadership have not done enough to stop the illegal sideshows.
"We are afraid because of all those bullets," said Sandi Bethune.
She said there had been three sideshows in the last week near her house at the intersection of Skyline Boulevard and Keller Avenue in the Oakland Hills.
"I'm seriously concerned about the gunfire, that happens often," said neighbor Lori Perenon.
Perenon called the police every time a sideshow occurred near her house. When the police did show up, she said the officers typically stayed back.
"What's the city doing? The city leadership, I don't get it," she said. "We've sent letters to multiple people, mayor, vice mayor, all of that. And you get crickets."
"There's a sense of lawlessness that I have never seen. And believe me, I've been here all my life," Said Bethune.
The police department said when they don't have enough officers to break up large sideshows, they will go after participants the following week and impound their cars for 30 days.
"I absolutely hear their frustration," said District 6 Councilman Loren Taylor. "And I'm committed to making sure that we do implement the solutions that are going to change it in the long run."
Taylor said the city will soon install plastic bollards at the intersection of Skyline and Keller, making it harder to do donuts. Neighbors said only a roundabout will work.
"We have to have the infrastructure improvements along with the enforcement, along with the pre-emptive and follow up investigations," Taylor said.
Mayor Libby Schaaf said the city is getting $192 million from the federal government. She hoped the city council will use that money to reverse the cuts to the police.
