( KRON ) — In an interview Wednesday with KRON4’s Stephanie Lin, Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao said that most residents of Oakland are not criminals.
“Again, there are way more people who are not committing crimes that live here in the City of Oakland than there are ones that are committing crimes,” the mayor said. “So we have to hyper-focus on the ones who are committing the crimes, get them off the streets.”
The mayor addressed the city’s ongoing public safety issues and said that auto burglaries, robberies and other crimes in Oakland were actually down 45% in January of 2024 compared to the same time last year.
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“I’m happy to announce that here in January compared to last year, our auto burglaries robberies and all of those rates have gone down by a significant 45%. And we’re hopeful that we can keep those numbers low continuing on this year and for the next few years,” Mayor Thao said.
The mayor also said that improvements had already been made in the city’s 9-1-1 response times, which have been the subject of scrutiny.