THE ISSUESSafetyWe, residents of Oakland, are concerned for the safety of our children, elderly parents and ourselves. How can we improve safety? More on Safety: I think safety can be improved by putting additional officers in departments such as the burglary and theft departments, I am privy to information that there more officers are needed. My thought is that if these departments are more adequately staffed crimes would be solved quicker and crime would not have the opportunity to escalate. I also think that community services unit should be looked at critically, especially the youth services department. The police are often looked at negatively but the Police Community Services and the State Parole Community services can do a lot for families of paroles and repeat offenders. The officers have close up views of what goes on the streets and can effectively support a family, especially, youth about what's out there and how to avoid trouble. This kind of community support is a friendly approach to law enforcement. It is already working in some instances it just needs more visibility. Perhaps we need a "Liaison Youth Community Board" with youth input to monitor services to offer prevention techniques to those families that more vulnerable to abuse (grandparents raising children for the second and third time). Contact Beverly at 510.532.0333 or FayeBeck@comcast.net |