Homicide Rates in Bay Area Drop, Except in Oakland

Homicide rates in cities around the San Francisco Bay Area are dropping, but Oakland, a city recently hit by a police corruption scandal, saw an increase in the past year.

Oakland logged 79 homicides in 2000, up from 60 the year before. San Jose, however, continued its run as one of the safest large cities in the country, with only 17 homicides in 2000, down from 25 in 1999 and almost as low as its record of 13 in 1970.

San Jose fared far better than two cities of comparable size: Las Vegas, which had about 100 homicides, and Detroit, which had about 400.

On average, homicide rates in the Bay Area have been on the decline for eight years. San Francisco’s numbers were down slightly too, with 61 killings in 2000, compared with 64 the year before.

Oakland officials point out that the city’s overall crime rate, which includes robbery and rape, is down 16% from 1999, and authorities note that an increase in homicides over just one year does not necessarily indicate a continuing upward trend.

Law enforcement officers say high employment rates, a good economy and community policing are responsible for San Francisco’s and San Jose’s low homicide rates.

But San Jose Police Chief Bill Lansdowne said it has more to do with maintaining a constant police presence on the streets.

“It’s very comfortable to say the economy is the answer,” he said. “But patrol is even more important.”

Having police dispersed throughout the city is important to keeping crime down, said San Francisco Police Officer Michelle Jean. The city has a dozen precincts, while Oakland has one centralized headquarters.

Of the killings in Oakland in 2000, 10% were gang-related and 14% weredrug-related, two categories in which the police have been able to curb the number of homicides. Where they are having trouble is in dispute-related killings, which made up 32% of the city’s homicides. Some of the disputes were over minor matters, such as spilled beer and fender-bender accidents.

About 75% of the homicides in Oakland were committed with handguns, which is similar to San Jose’s percentage. In San Francisco, about half the victims were killed with handguns.

“People do not know how to handle anger and they have easy accessibility to handguns,” said Oakland police spokesman George Phillips.