Crime is falling nationwide, but not so in Oakland.
Violent crime in the city is up about 20 percent over last year to date. Earlier this month, seven people were murdered in seven days, making it the bloodiest week in about four years, according to the Oakland Tribune.
Forum host Michael Krasny spoke with Oakland Tribune columnist Tammerlin Drummond today about what the city's doing to address the problem.
"The violence issue is so huge, that we seem to be almost paralyzed by it," Drummond said. "The problem is, people want instant solutions, but we're not really, as a community, willing to roll up our sleeves and do the work and look at some of these difficult issues and their core roots." Drummond said Oakland's leadership is caught in an ideological battle, arguing over whether to spend public safety money on social programs or to put more officers on the ground. "You need a comprehensive public safety plan that’s going to address both of those issues,” he said.
Junious Williams Jr., CEO of the Urban Strategies Council, told Krasny that "we're not going to police our way out of this," and that youth in Oakland have been failed educationally. About a third of Oakland high school students drop out before graduation.