Oakland’s climbing murder rate is a wake up call here are some facts to ponder:

My Word

Op Ed

Published in the Oakland Tribune on 11-30-02.

Oakland has reached the one hundred murder mark, but consider another number: As of Halloween, there were 95 homicides in the city and only 31 of them had been solved. Two thirds of the murders in the city of Oakland unsolved.

A plurality of these homicides are struggles over gang and drug territories. Does this make cases harder to crack? When witnesses are intimidated, it does. Regrettably, it may also make them a lower priority. That bad guys are killing each other is cold comfort. Their wars pose a danger to the rest of us, to our peace and safety, and risk the economic recovery.

Crime yields to more concentrated resources and greater determination. Recent roving deployments of concentrated police resources produced temporary results. But another issue looms. Prison graduates live in two societies: among their “home boys” around town, and in prison, where their friends are doing time. Gangs flourish behind bars; and prison graduates are under-deterred. Neither the statistically improbable prospect of an arrest, nor the threat of a mere prison sentence is going to stop this group of criminals from pulling the trigger when it suits them. We need the will to overcome.

Problem. Oakland is neither a pro police nor a pro law-and-order town. And Oakland is not a death penalty friendly jurisdiction. As Public Defender, I worked to prevent any of my clients from going to death row. And that proves my point. They didn’t want to go. Confidential interviews with thousands of criminals is a great reality check. I support the death penalty for selected murders, especially for the criminals who have gotten used to prison life, because the credible threat of that punishment saves lives.

We’ve heard the death penalty is not a deterrent. Nonsense. Whole categories of criminals are deterred. Carjackings where the victim is in the trunk. Some are shot, others not. Criminals often think of the consequences. Cons who don’t kill don’t want to be executed. Who looks forward to the “green room?” It’s really that simple.

The death penalty deters that class of murders where there is a moment to reflect before killing. Think drug dealer turf shootings, gang warfare, witness killings, robbery murders. Most murders in Oakland can be deterred if: (1) the arrest risk reaches a credible level; (2) there is some prospect of the death penalty. Granted, many murders aren’t “death eligible.” But witness killings, murders while “lying in wait,” and killings in the course of listed felonies are. Let’s add a new one: any first degree murder by someone who has spent time in state prison. The City should back that legislation; declare zero tolerance for killings; and ask the prosecutor to seek death in every legally appropriate case.

Of the thousands of dispossessed youth, of all the hard luck cases, very few actually kill. Despite all the pressures, only a comparatively handful actually blow away a fellow human being. When we deter a potential killer, we help many people, including the would-be killer. The message is the key: Oakland is fed up with murder; enough is enough; if you take a life in “Oaktown”, you may forfeit your own.

Motivation produces results. Recall the cold blooded freeway overpass shooting of OPD officer James Williams. That killing was solved within hours by concentrated, highly motivated police work. The Williams’ investigation was the kind of aggressive attention to a single crime considered a luxury, given budgetary restraints. But it worked. All murders benefit from that motivated focus, especially within the first hours when leads are hot.

It can be done. Are we willing to pay the price? The defeat of the recent measure for 100 police positions was great news for Oakland’s crooks. Will we let the promise of this wonderful city slip away because of a few thugs with weapons? Stay tuned….

Jay Gaskill was former Alameda County Public Defender, now an attorney-consultant in Alameda.