crime

Lacking police presence, Oakland residents take control of their streets

Kyung Jin Lee — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 02:57:38 +0000

A couple of years ago, Sonny Le and his five-year-old son were approaching their front gate in Oakland’s Glenview neighborhood after school when Le saw two men running towards them.

“One was trying to go behind us – the maneuver trying to corral your prey, basically,” he says. “The other one started coming right at me, at us. He put his hoodie on. It was like, OK, these kids gonna rob us.”

What Richmond's drop in crime means for other cities

Kyung Jin Lee — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 02:29:43 +0000

Residents in the city of Richmond are reeling from a recent shooting spree, including the murder of a 19-year-old. The city has had four homicides so far this year – all committed in public, all during the day. And there have been other daytime shootings. They’ve shocked city residents – because crimes like that are no longer the norm.

KALW’s criminal justice reporter Kyung-Jin Lee joined Holly Kernan in studio to talk about the crime drop in Richmond – and what other cities can learn from Richmond’s approach.

Step inside a Fruitvale corner store

Tymeesa Rutledge — Thu, 22 Nov 2012 22:08:00 +0000

Corner stores in Oakland are predominantly run by immigrants from the Middle East. Most of the merchants are originally from Yemen. Some estimates report that 80 percent of Bay Area convenience stores are operated by Yemenese.

One of those stores is Foothill Market on 19th and Foothill in Oakland’s Fruitvale district. The Hassan family runs it. Ali Farrad Hassan is a first generation Yemeni-American, and has been working in his uncle’s store for a few years now.

A Fruitvale food tradition threatened

Esther Honig — Tue, 20 Nov 2012 20:57:00 +0000

Oakland is known for its food trucks, which serve everything from tacos and tamales to West African cuisine. But few know that this latest culinary trend got its start in Fruitvale almost 30 years ago. Fruitvale still has the city’s largest concentration of mobile food vendors – a predominantly immigrant population. These micro-businesses provide owners low overhead and the opportunity to become successful entrepreneurs. But if running a small business isn’t hard enough in this economy, vendors now face the added challenge of armed robbery.

Neighborhood watches grow in Oakland

Emily Gadek — Wed, 06 Jun 2012 21:53:28 +0000

At around 10 o’clock on a brisk spring morning in Oakland Hills, Danny Cieloha and Esther Fong walk along Davenport Avenue wearing bright orange vests with a neighborhood watch logo and carrying cell phones, in case they need to snap a picture or call for help. They’re looking for “anything that's unusual,” says Fong.

“Things like young men out of their cars, walking the neighborhood,” adds Cieloha.