Oakland’s ultra-progressive Mayor Sheng Thao tries to pass buck on city’s soaring crime by claiming problem had started before she took office – even though robberies have soared 38% in the last year

Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao has criticized claims of an increase in crime under her leadership, even as the city saw a spike in robberies over the past year.

“Crime in Oakland has been steadily rising since 2019,” Thao told KRON 4. “It is unfair for anyone to say that crime only started to rise on my watch.”

According to data from the Oakland Police Department, Thao, who took office in 2023, is only partially right.

The total number of homicides increased in 2019, but the numbers have remained relatively stable over the past three years.

Between 2022 and 2023 alone, the number of thefts increased by 38 percent.

A video released by Oakland police in August shows a woman being pistol-whipped by two men after she refused to give up her purse

The men dig through her pockets as she lies unconscious on the ground

The number of car burglaries has increased since 2020, reaching a new peak in 2023 not seen in the past decade.

The number of business burglaries has also increased steadily over the past five years and has almost tripled since 2019.

In August, a shocking video circulated showing a woman confronted by two men who tried to take her bag before pistol-whipping her.

She fell to the ground before both men searched her pockets.

A month earlier, the Oakland Police Department issued a public safety advisory citing an increase in home robberies.”

OPD urged residents to prune hedges and shrubs to “eliminate potential hiding places,” install home security systems and use outdoor lighting with motion sensors.

Thao said her office had since implemented new neighborhood strategies and was already seeing success.

In the Chinatown, Uptown and Jack London Square areas, we’ve seen a 42 percent drop in robberies, a 32 percent drop in car burglaries… and a 38 percent drop in theft and a 13 percent drop in commercial burglaries.’

While rates for certain types of crime have remained relatively stable, thefts alone have increased by 38 percent between 2022 and 2023

Car burglaries will reach an unprecedented peak in 2023 and commercial burglaries have almost tripled since 2019

Thao has been accused by a group of opponents of creating a public safety crisis aimed at removing her from office.

The group, led by retired Alameda County Superior Court Judge Brenda Harbin-Forte, accuses Thao of “systematically dismantling” the police department.

Her office also plans to revive the city’s ceasefire program, which connects people at greatest risk of gun violence with life coaches.

From 2013 onwards, the number of murders fell and reached a low of 67 in 2018. Since then, the number of murders has risen, reaching 120 in 2023.

Similarly, shootings involving injuries began to decline in 2013, reaching a low of 274 in 2018 before rising to 509 in 2023.

An audit of the program by the California Partnership for Safe Communities found these spikes are due to the city gradually moving away from the ceasefire strategy.

Beginning in 2016 and 2017 and accelerating in 2019 and 2020, “every key element of the strategy was significantly watered down, resources stripped away or redirected,” the report said.

This started under Thao’s predecessor, Libby Schaff, who took office in 2015 and admitted last year that efforts to defund the city’s police department went “too far.”

The ceasefire program is expected to be operational in six weeks, but this is unlikely to be enough to satisfy Thao’s critics, some of whom plan to have her removed from office.

Earlier this month, a group led by retired Alameda County Superior Court Judge Brenda Harbin-Forte sent an official letter of intent to begin the recall process.

Organizers accused Thao of creating a public safety crisis by “systematically dismantling” OPD, firing former Police Chief LeRonne Armstrong and failing to appoint a successor.

“Lives have been lost, property destroyed, businesses closed, and fear and collective trauma are daily occurrences for Oaklanders,” the opponents wrote in an official release.

Thao’s chief of staff, Leigh Hanson, said in a statement that the recall campaign is “led by losers.”

“I am confident that if Mayor Thao had lost the election, she would have gracefully conceded and found a legitimate job that contributed to the advancement of our community,” Hanson said.

“I have faith that Oaklanders are smarter than this, and will resist the urge to be distracted by a desperate bid for relevance.”