Community residents and political advocacy groups are calling on a California district attorney to resign after finding she has failed to tackle an overflow of crime that has taken over Oakland.
In an open letter written to members of the community, Oakland NAACP president Cynthia Adams and Acts Full Gospel Church’s Bishop Bob Jackson say Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price is further plaguing the city with her “failed leadership.”
“Oakland residents are sick and tired of our intolerable public safety crisis that overwhelmingly impacts minority communities. Murders, shootings, violent armed robberies, home invasions, car break-ins, sideshows, and highway,” Adams and Jackson wrote in the letter.
In 2022, Price became the first Black woman elected to serve as the county’s D.A. A Yale and Berkeley School of Law graduate, Price advocated for criminal justice reform and was known for her reformist postures on policing and sentencing.
But since taking office, residents of East Bay’s largest city say her office has not pushed for harsher sentences for criminals, including in the case of Jasper Wu, a 2-year-old who was recently killed by a stray bullet in a shootout on Oakland’s Interstate 880.
“There is nothing compassionate or progressive about allowing criminal behavior to fester and rob Oakland residents of their basic rights to public safety,” Adams and Jackson wrote in the letter. “We need our elected leaders to take responsible action to ensure public safety. The best way to start is to declare that we are in a public safety emergency.”
Earlier this year, community members created an online petition calling for Price to be recalled. As of Aug. 16, more than 24,000 people have signed it.
Following Adams’ and Jackson’s open letter, a spokesperson for Price wrote: “We are disappointed that a great African American pastor and a great African American organization would take a false narrative on such an important matter. We would expect more from Bishop Bob Jackson and the Oakland Chapter of the NAACP.”
Statistics released by the Oakland Police Department state that homicides are up 80% compared to 2019. Assaults and robberies have also seen sharp spikes.
“African Americans are disproportionately hit the hardest by crime in East Oakland and other parts of the city. But residents from all parts of the city report that they do not feel safe. Everyone is in danger,” the letter explained, adding that “Women have been beaten and robbed by youths; Asian Americans have been assaulted in Chinatown; physical aggression has been used against street vendors; and cameras have been stolen from news crews working in the field; and utility crews are now required to have private security.”
