Oakland misses out on $267million to combat retail theft after inept city leaders MISS DEADLINE to file grant application

Talk about a blunder!

Oakland has missed out on funding for a $267 million grant to combat shoplifting after its leaders missed the application deadline.

California planned to distribute the money to cities struggling to cope with the rampant looting plaguing the state.

But Oakland missed the July 7 deadline to apply for the grant due to alleged technical issues — and this has infuriated businesses and residents.

Local pastor and community leader Bishop Bob Jackson blasted city officials, saying, “You didn’t have to be a rocket scientist to fill out the grant.”

Oakland Council President Nikki Fortunato Bas admitted she was “extremely disappointed” to miss out on the grant and added that the city manager was investigating how the mistake happened.

California Governor Gavin Newsom’s office has announced plans to distribute $267 million in grants to cities to address the growing problem of organized retail theft.

It announced the deadline to maintain a “level playing field.”

But after a legal review, the California Board of State and Community Corrections determined that “the City of Oakland did not meet the necessary requirements for successful submission of an application and is therefore ineligible for funding.”

The city’s Economic and Workforce Development Department worked with the Oakland Police Department and community partners to apply for the governor’s Real Public Safety Plan grant opportunity, the city council told the local website. SFGATE.

While the police and community partners turned in their materials on time, the development department did not.

“It is clear that this outcome is unacceptable,” the city government said in a statement.

Council President Bas said, “Community safety is Oakland’s top priority, and I am extremely disappointed that we missed a grant opportunity to bring more resources to our city.

“The city council is investigating what happened to prevent this from happening again.”

“You just had to do it on time,” Bishop Jackson said. “And because public safety doesn’t seem to be a priority for the leaders in this city, that didn’t happen.”

He added that crime is as bad as it has ever been, and he doesn’t understand why those responsible didn’t submit the application on time.

Theft, which includes shoplifting, has increased by nearly 50 percent in Oakland from 2019 to 2022. So far this year, 3,329 cases have been reported.

Robberies have increased by 32 percent since 2019, with 1,699 cases reported in 2023. There have already been 1,734 aggravated assaults in the city, compared to 1,577 last year.

“That was free money that could solve a lot of the crime problems we have right now,” he said.

“We missed this opportunity because we were negligent because we were reading our emails. Why did we do that? Who were the problem leaders?’

Businessman Chris Rachal, owner of Mimosa on Grand and For the Culture restaurants, believes the mayor, city council and city manager should be held accountable.

‘It’s actually a shame. I mean, if you really think about it, it’s just a shame,” he said.

“Oaklanders are afraid to leave the house. You know, for the most part. I mean, a lot of people just don’t want to even leave the house for fear of someone carjacking them or robbing them and breaking into their car. And it has done quite a bit of work for companies.”

The Oakland NAACP office was criticized for city officials’ inability to apply for the funds.

“We are shocked, dismayed and outraged that the city of Oakland has squandered millions of dollars in crime prevention funding by missing the deadline for state grants,” the letter said.

“This is a devastating blow to citizens and businesses who have advocated for crime prevention measures that could have been funded with millions of dollars in grants offered by the state.”

It’s not clear how much money Oakland would have received as part of the grant or what the technical issues were that prevented the application from being submitted on time.

Successful applicants include police departments in Fremont, Newark and Vacaville, which will collectively receive about $7 million.

The San Francisco Police Department will make $15.3 million, making it one of the most awarded in the region.

The additional funding will be used to establish retail theft investigation units, install surveillance cameras, increase arrest rates and stop vehicle and catalytic converter thefts.

Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao’s office is in the process of hiring someone who will streamline the application process to prevent something like this from happening again.

It comes as a disturbing new crime trend known as “flash rob mobs” is on the rise and will likely cost California as much as $19 billion a year, the LAPD warns.

The incidents are becoming increasingly common in soft-on-crime California, where detectives from the state’s largest police force are now assembling special teams to tackle the problem.

The groups looted stores, including Nordstrom and Versace.

In response to the recent surge, Los Angeles Police Department officials formed a task force called the Organized Retail Crime Taskforce.

By the end of last month, the task force had made 11 arrests in connection with four cases.

But investigators say the trend is not limited to the Golden State and will ultimately cost America $30 billion a year unless something is done.