As Oakland Slides Into Chaos, Its District Attorney Fights For Criminals
Watch the uncut footage of Alameda County DA Pamela Price's recent town hall
As it is in the public interest, Public is releasing our full, unedited footage from last week’s public safety meeting with Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price. You can find it above.
In May, Oakland police officers arrested nine minors, aged 12 to 17, for a string of 35 robberies throughout the East Bay. In one of those robberies, at 1:30 in the afternoon in an upscale shopping district, the teenagers repeatedly hit a 63-year-old woman in the head while dragging her by the hair.
A little more than a week later, they were back on the street with no charges filed. Alameda County’s District Attorney, Pamela Price, announced that there was not enough evidence to bring charges against any of them. She claimed that the police agreed with that assessment.
To Oakland residents, the case quickly became emblematic of the new DA’s approach to the surging crime wave inundating Oakland. Murders are down in the city by 13% since last year, but violent crime overall is up by 15%. There has been a 22% increase in robberies, a 41% increase in burglaries, and a 50% increase in carjackings. Rape is also up, by 22%. Thieves routinely smash car windows in plain sight, in the middle of the day, often with drivers still inside the vehicles. Gunfights occasionally break out in broad daylight on city streets and on freeways.
But Price is committed to making every practicable effort to avoid incarcerating criminals, including minimizing charges brought for violent crimes. In April, Price prohibited her staff from including sentencing enhancements in their charging decisions, except in extraordinary circumstances. Sentencing enhancements are additional charges that can brought for the same crime, such as the use of a weapon, or a prior conviction, or gang membership. The same memo instructed attorneys to offer probation whenever possible, and when not, to offer plea bargains at “the low term.”
Many local residents believe that criminals have gotten the message: crime pays in Oakland. “You’re coddling them!” one resident shouted at a boisterous town hall in May with City Councilmember Dan Kalb, referring to the juveniles responsible for the string of violent robberies. He went on: “I’m so disappointed that the biggest problem with Oakland is not here tonight. And that’s our District Attorney Price.” The room erupted in thunderous applause. “She is on the criminal’s side,” the man continued. Then he turned to the audience. “And to any of you who voted for her: shame on you, and elections have consequences.” The room exploded again in applause. “Recall Pamela Price!” cried a woman in the front row.