Criminally confused California

You know crime is out of control when someone like Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) is willing to contradict himself and other elected Democrats to insert himself into local politics to try and fix the problem. Such is the case in Oakland, California.

Newsom has interjected in Alameda County’s affairs on crime because crime in Oakland has become an eyesore for Newsom’s political image. The state is now sending California National Guard prosecutors to handle cases in Alameda County to “speed up” prosecutions, as soft-on-crime District Attorney Pamela Price has continued to drag her feet, reaching a supposedly quick agreement after five months of haggling over a similar one prior.

What are they actually going to do? Who knows? Price and Newsom’s teams disagree about just what is happening in Oakland in the first place, making their supposed deal look more like a silly game than an effort to curb crime. They disagree about how many arrests California Highway Patrol has referred to Price’s office and what they were even negotiating when Newsom and Price were criticizing each other last month.

Why prosecutions in Oakland need to be sped up isn’t clear either, given that Newsom boasted that crime was already down in Oakland in his State of the State address and that Price doesn’t think her job has anything to do with crime numbers.

You know who isn’t confused about what is happening? People in Oakland living through a higher-than-national-average homicide rate and far more carjackings and robberies than the city saw before 2020. Maybe they can offer some clarity to their confused Democratic leaders.

It is always a good sign when two people trying to solve a crime crisis have completely conflicting views on what is happening and what their jobs are. Meanwhile, another few cars were probably jacked from the airport parking lot in Oakland. It may take another five months for Newsom and Price to agree on that, too.