Sunday’s column-to-column front page headline in the East Bay Times gave me the shivers:
Group-theft sprees: Here to stay?
My immediate reaction was: Hell no. Not if I have anything to say about it.
Few news videos in recent years have appalled and disgusted me more than these images of roving bands of thugs invading stores and looting them. We hear about an arrest here or there, but we never hear about any followup. Are these thieves sentenced to prison? Are they heavily fined? Will their crimes follow them throughout their lives, so that future employers will know what they did?
We don’t know the answers to these questions. But based on what we’ve seen happen in the past, these criminals will go through a revolving door at the local Court House and be free within hours. Maybe they’ll have a brief stint of probation. But probably, not a damned thing will happen to them. They’ll laugh at how ineffective our judicial system is, and they’ll soon be back with their friends, smashing and grabbing again.
These so-called “caravan robberies” were a major topic at Oakland Police Chief LeRonne Armstrong’s press conference yesterday. His pressers are becoming increasingly common down at OPD headquarters on 7th Street. It’s The LeRonne Armstrong Show, and I mean no disrespect. The Chief calls them for nearly every murder in Oakland, and with the current number of homicides standing at 127, you can imagine The Chief is having lots of press conferences. Each one varies little from the others. Chief begins with a second of silence for the victims—yesterday that meant two minutes and seven seconds with bowed heads in a crowded conference room filled with reporters and photographers. Then Chief, an emotional man, gives a short, emotional statement, and the questions begin. Not much is ever revealed or accomplished in these press conferences, but there’s something relieving about the ritual, and it seems important for The Chief to do something. There was some good news: the current Police Academy, which started on Nov. 19, has 39 candidates, of which perhaps 30 will make the cut.
One senses a certain numbness setting in among the people of Oakland, who awake nearly every day to learn about the latest murders and outrages. That’s why the East Bay Times headline is so awful: “Here to stay?” implies that this is the new normal. But we can’t accept that. Yet what can we, as individuals, do? We seem to be stuck with a few bleak alternatives: (1), ride out this crime wave and hope that, like COVID, eventually it will go away. (2) elect Tweedledum to replace Tweedledee on the City Council and as Mayor. Honestly, the announced candidates are still trying to find their rhetorical sweet spots, but so far, all we’re hearing are platitudes. No candidate wants to upset anybody. None of them want to come out strongly in favor of more cops. None of them is willing to denounce the depravity of the culture that breeds caravan robbers and murderers. None of them has the courage to tell Cat Brooks she’s crazy. We get from them lots of “hearts and prayers” but where’s the strength, the determination to turn Oakland around, forcefully if need be? Where’s the truth-to-power? Where is the leadership?
I can’t imagine what Chief Armstrong goes through every day, especially when there’s another killing. Many lesser mortals would bend and break under the strain. Not The Chief. The man has an inner strength you can feel in your own core. Oakland is so lucky to have him.