Oakland and Richmond both in top 10 most dangerous cities in America. (Los Angeles: high crime, credit)

[TheOaklandBoi]

Is it really that bad in Oakland and Richmond?

[City Boy]

What kind of question is that form "The Oakland Boi"?

[iTsLiKeAnEgG]

Originally Posted by City Boy

What kind of question is that form "The Oakland Boi"?

LOL. This thread makes absolutely no sense.

Hey guys, how bad is it in Daly City?

[skywalker400]

Keep city limits in mind, so somewhere like Los Angeles, which has plenty of high crime neighborhoods, also has some middle class suburban places in the valley, which evens out the numbers somewhat. Richmond and Oakland both hold large poor populations and lack enough better off neighborhoods to skew stats in its favor. If Richmond, El Sobrante, El Cerrito, Albany and Berkeley were one town, the place wouldnt look quite so bad. As that list you are referring to is based on cities with 100k+ populations i believe, the Bay Area could have numerous safe cities as well too, if only places combined (Danville/San Ramon, Lamorinda/Walnut Creek, Livermore/Pleasanton). I agree crime is stubborningly high in Oakland and Richmond and major changes are needed for them to improve, but there are some large flaws in that survey annually released.

[ssmaster]

if you are someone who likes to hang out on the street corners of west and east oakland after 10pm not safe.
oakland very safe if you like to go to movies ,plays, nightclubs ,upscale dining,farmersmarkets,live music venues.these areas have very good numbers
i have noticed most of the homicides and violence occurs in areas that don't have movie,theaters ,nice restaurants,plays ,nightclubs.so i can't figure out why omeone would be standing around the streetcorners of east oakland

[John McClane]

Is it really that bad in Oakland and Richmond?

It must be since they beat out hundreds of other cities in the U.S in order to earn the title of one of the most dangerous cities in the country.

On flip side, San Diego is always making it on the list of top 10 safest big cities in the U.S.

So law enforcement in San Diego is obviously doing something right while the same can't be said for Oakland and Richmond.

[jman650]

Originally Posted by skywalker400

Keep city limits in mind, so somewhere like Los Angeles, which has plenty of high crime neighborhoods, also has some middle class suburban places in the valley, which evens out the numbers somewhat. Richmond and Oakland both hold large poor populations and lack enough better off neighborhoods to skew stats in its favor. If Richmond, El Sobrante, El Cerrito, Albany and Berkeley were one town, the place wouldnt look quite so bad. As that list you are referring to is based on cities with 100k+ populations i believe, the Bay Area could have numerous safe cities as well too, if only places combined (Danville/San Ramon, Lamorinda/Walnut Creek, Livermore/Pleasanton). I agree crime is stubborningly high in Oakland and Richmond and major changes are needed for them to improve, but there are some large flaws in that survey annually released.

The same could be said just as easily for ANY city or area in the country. Half of Oakland is almost completely safe and its stats ARE skewed in its favor. If Oakland was split into two cities with 580 being the dividing line and the top half of it seceding, it would possibly be the most dangerous city of 160,000-200,000 in the nation, easily. Same with Chicago; most of its crime is contained on the South and West sides. This is true of just about anywhere - there are good and bad neighborhoods in every city in this country.

But for cities that have the limits in place that are currently there, Oakland and Richmond rank as dangerous as they do in comparison to other similar-sized cities. Your argument of that East Bay safe zone you gave could just as easily be looked at in the opposite direction by making San Pablo and the Western half of Richmond their own city, which would likely rank in the top three (if not #1) most dangerous cities as well. Comparing the crime of comparable sized neighborhoods and the likelihood of becoming a victim in a particular city are the only ways to get an accurate idea of the danger that exists in a particular city. Richmond I think should be considered even more dangerous due to semi-random freeway shootings every 2 or 3 months. And random crime vs. gang/criminal or domestic crime should be shown as well to get a better understanding.

[jman650]

Originally Posted by John McClane

So law enforcement in San Diego is obviously doing something right while the same can't be said for Oakland and Richmond.

Law enforcement is only part of the story. Oakland and Richmond have a larger and deadlier criminal element than San Diego does, as well as having more blighted areas than SD. I'm sure the SD cops do a great job, but the cops' role in lowering homicides comes into play after the homicides have already occurred. If you have rougher areas with a lot of gangbanging and drug dealing like you have in Oakland and Richmond, then the cops there will have a tougher task at hand than the cops in SD.

The current Chief of Police in Richmond came about 2 years ago or so from Fargo, ND where there was only about 1 murder annually. Would you say that the Fargo PD was simply better than the Richmond PD, considering they have the exact same leadership?? No, of course not. The Richmond PD has to deal with all kinds of issues that the Fargo PD has never been faced with. So I wouldn't give all the credit to the SDPD and put all the blame on the Oakland and Richmond PD's. These two cities have their hands fuller than SD does.

[Joe_Ryder]

Yet another of these threads. Ok the condensed version:

Murdered 4 times last week, all vehicles and recreational toys stolen, dog raped. Yes, it's a freaking terrible place. Everyone should go away.

[Tallysmom]

Originally Posted by Joe_Ryder

Yet another of these threads. Ok the condensed version:

Murdered 4 times last week, all vehicles and recreational toys stolen, dog raped. Yes, it's a freaking terrible place. Everyone should go away.

In Piedmont? You got murdered four times last week in PIEDMONT?

Times must be real tough up there on the hill....