Oakland Neighbors Policing Their Own Streets As They Lose Faith In Cops

Well, I wonder how many more places with high crime will start doing this?

AKLAND (KPIX 5) – Oakland’s crime problems have gotten so bad that some people aren’t even bothering to call the cops anymore; instead, they’re trying to solve and prevent crimes themselves.

KPIX 5 cameras caught up with a half dozen neighbors in East Oakland’s Arcadia Park neighborhood Monday as they walked the streets on the lookout for crime. The vigilance has never seemed more necessary than now; 25 homes in the neighborhood have been burglarized over the last two months alone.

In a neighborhood that has started to feel like the wild west, people have even started posting “wanted” signs.

“You have to walk around in your house with a gun to feel safe here,” said Alaska Tarvins of the Arcadia Park Board of Directors.

Over the weekend, one home was burglarized twice in a 24 hour period, once while a resident’s nephew was inside.

“He was on with 911 when those men tried to kick into his room. That was very frightening,” said the woman, identified only as Inca.

Now, Arcadia park neighbors are taking the detective work into their own hands.

KPIX 5 found a woman who identified herself as L.E. patrolling her neighborhood by car. She said she recently chased down a couple of robbers herself.

“There was an armed robbery in progress and the owner yelled ‘help me’ and I ended up going after them,” L.E. recalled.

The people who live in the area are nothing if not gutsy, but they need help. A plan to gate their community has been stalled. With the police force stretched painfully thin, they may be forced to follow other Oakland neighborhoods and hire private guards.

“We don’t have a choice. Either die or we hire some security ourselves, because we can’t depend on the police department,” said Tarvins.

It seems the citizens of Oakland are fed up with the lack of assistance from their local police, they decided to police neighborhoods themselves. After about 25 break ins, and cops not responding quickly enough.

Oakland's police force has been stretched thin, leaving these people to police the streets. But what implications will arise from this if other people start doing it, will the government and local agencies see these people as a threat? Or is this a legit stance that these citizens are taking? Should more residents be in charge of policing the neighborhoods?

This could lead to a lot of problems, or it could be a good solution.. I don't know if it's a good idea to let any random people claim to be "police for the community". There would have to be some organization for sure. So is this another sign of the times ahead?

Link CBS Local

I remember when the black panther party roamed the streets of Oakland. Maybe its time they dusted off that idea again up there.

www.gibbsmagazine.com...

They weren't allowed to police themselves either . Though they were black and from the ghetto where they lived, they were still considered "communists". They were deemed enemies of the state and destroyed by the government from within.

The sad thing is as budgets for law enforcement decrease and protection for the average citizen declines, it will still be criminal to enforce the law on a civilian level. Today they will probably call anyone with a gun patrolling their hood to protect the population "terrorists". The remaining police will arrest them.

So crime will only be allowed to increase. Interesting how that works.

Good for them.

But, don't be surprised if the police come crashing down on their vigilantism. In fact I will be surprised if that doesn't happen.

All while ignoring the real criminals of course.

Good find though, thanks for sharing this.

reply to post by intrptr


Well, I believe people should take note of this story, as it means a lot. If the government does succeed in taking away our firearms, we're going to be experiencing what these people do a lot more frequently I think.

It's important that the people are aware that they are going to need to protect themselves instead of relying on big brother all of the time.

thanks for your input.

reply to post by watchitburn


No problem, it just came on the news feed

Yeah, it's sad that the cops would punish these people for defending themselves, but thus is the police state we're living in I suppose.

thanks!

Originally posted by intrptr
I remember when the black panther party roamed the streets of Oakland. Maybe its time they dusted off that idea again up there.

www.gibbsmagazine.com...

They weren't allowed to police themselves either . Though they were black and from the ghetto where they lived, they were still considered "communists". They were deemed enemies of the state and destroyed by the government from within.

The sad thing is as budgets for law enforcement decrease and protection for the average citizen declines, it will still be criminal to enforce the law on a civilian level. Today they will probably call anyone with a gun patrolling their hood to protect the population "terrorists". The remaining police will arrest them.

So crime will only be allowed to increase. Interesting how that works.

The same Black Panther party who issued death threats, tortured and killed their own members and engaged in shootouts with the police (killing 9 and wounding 56 others)? Gee, I wonder why they would be classified as violent revolutionaries and destroyed by the government.

reply to post by ShadeWolf

Gee, I wonder why they would be classified as violent revolutionaries and destroyed by the government.

Because the conditions they lived in as in poverty and oppression? Gee that wouldn't radicalize anyone would it?

See Rodney King riots.

This story reminds me of this old "Joke" (?) Link

HOW TO CALL THE POLICE
Roger Gresse, an elderly man, from Zanesville, OH, was going up to bed, when his wife told him that he'd left the light on in the garden shed. Roger opened the back door to go turn off the light, but saw that there were people in the shed stealing things.

He phoned the police, who asked, "Is someone in your house?"

He said "No," but some people are breaking into my garden shed and stealing from me."

Then the police dispatcher said. "All patrols are busy. You should lock your doors and an officer will be along when one is available."

Roger said, "Okay."

He hung up the phone and counted to 30.

Then he phoned the police again.

"Hello, I just called you a few seconds ago because there were people stealing things from my shed. Well, you don't have to worry about them now because I just shot them," and he hung up.

Within five minutes, six police cars, a SWAT team, a helicopter, two fire trucks, a paramedic, and an ambulance showed up at the Gresse residence, and caught the burglars red-handed.

One of the policemen said to Roger, "I thought you said that you'd shot them!"

Roger said, "I thought you said there was nobody available!"

The sad part is despite this issue, the anti gun-grabbing agenda continues full steam ahead. What would be happening to this town/region if the homeowners did not have guns to defend themselves from people with guns?

This doesn't actually surprise me... my brother lives in Oakland, and the PD is notorious for corruption and inactivity. I'm sure many of you remember the occupy protests... Oakland was the scene of the most heinous police misconduct. Not to mention the BART cops shooting the guy in the back... really, the OPD has a long history of sucking ass.

Didn't this happen in the 1960s?

But, it's not just Oakland and other cities, this is happening out in the country too - here's an article about a small town's volunteer peacekeeping force (yeah, Fox, but the details are accurate here):

www.foxnews.com...

I think this is more of an effective way to stop crime.

You cant rely on the police- You have to rely on yourselves.

The police come later, till then- Know your neighbors and watch each others backs.

Good for them

hmmmm ... sounds like one more boiling pot of water
add some Martin/Zimmerman look-alikes and whammo, instant chaos.

how much ya wanna bet the cops would be real interested then ?