Some suggest gang injunctions are simply a method to institutionalize and reinforce racial profiling by the Oakland Police. Some suggest the proliferation of gangs contribute to blight and disinvestment in Oakland. Some suggest the Oakland Police are too willing to kill young black men. Some suggest Oakland residents are too willing to ignore that most murders in Oakland are committed by people of color against people of color.
What is the reality? What are the perceptions? What are the solutions? What do you think?
Fact: Far too many people are being assaulted, robbed, and murdered in Oakland. Open the paper or turn on your computer and you can read that almost every other day someone in Oakland has been shot, robbed, or murdered.
Who commits these crimes and why do they commit these crimes? Oakland has one of the highest violent crime rates in the entire country. Until Oakland addresses crime in a comprehensive fashion, young men like Anthony Thompson will continue to be murdered on Oakland's streets. Until crime is addressed in a comprehensive fashion there will be blight and disinvestment in Oakland.
