A news crew from NBC Bay Area were filming an interview with Guillermo Cespedes, the director of the Department of Violence Prevention, when two armed thugs attempted to steal the TV crew’s ~$60k camera and equipment. In an effort to fight back, a private security guard drew his firearm on the two criminals, who fled the scene.
“Please be advised that the suspects are still outstanding,” Oakland police said. “We encourage everyone to be vigilant of their surroundings and report all crimes. Please stay safe.”
In Oakland California, the city’s mayor Libby Shaaf redirected $18.4 million from the city’s $674 million Police Budget to the Department of Violence Prevention.
Chief Leronne Armstrong stated “It took me a couple days to get to this point where I could talk to the media, because I had some serious concerns and obviously had a difficult time wrapping my head around certain decisions that were made. Ill start off today by saying that I’m challenged by the decisions that were made on Thursday around the budget for the city of Oakland, particularly for the Oakland Police Department”
“Today we find ourselves in a crisis. We find ourselves reeling from a weekend of violence, where we see four homicides over a three day period. And now has is currently a 65 homicides for the year. So 90% increase compared to last year. Our shootings are up over 70% this year. Our robberies are up 11% this year, it’s been 1300 robberies in the city, already this year. Our carjackings are up nearly 88%. So we see clearly that crime is out of control in the city of Oakland. And our response was for less police resources.”
“Far too often in these meetings we are talking about numbers. We are talking about money and costs,” he said. “I don’t know what the cost of a life is. But I know not having resources makes our city less safe.”
“Defund the Police“ has become a trending catchphrase among progressive Americans and the alt-left. The more that Mayors play into this anti-police ideology, the more America will continue to see a rise in violent crime from criminals who wish to take advantage of the lack of state funded protection.
JMBK.NEWS 