Year in Crime: Mounting Murders, Shrinking Budgets
Circumstances tested leaders in San Francisco and Oakland this year
Crime spikes, combined with shrinking police departments and city budgets, fueled political drama this year.
Major Bay Area cities saw increases in poverty in 2011. Murder rates also rose, after declining statewide for five years. In Oakland, homicides shot up nearly 30 percent, to 109 murders at last count. San Francisco, which had seen a slight increase in murders last year, experienced another small uptick, nearing the end of the year with 50 homicides.
The circumstances tested leaders in both cities — and some fared better than others.
THE INNOCENTS
In Oakland, some of the year’s most difficult-to-solve crimes involved unsuspecting victims. Two toddlers, a popular Fruitvale restaurateur, a teen on the verge of graduation and a man who frequently fed the homeless were all shot to death. Two-year-old Carlos “Carlitos” Nava was killed by a stray bullet intended for an East Oakland drug dealer in August. In December, 1-year-old Hiram Lawrence was removed from life support after he was shot in his father’s arms during a rap music video shoot in West Oakland, just a month before his second birthday. Carlitos' alleged killers were captured, but despite five arrests of people “of interest,” Hiram's case remains unsolved. No arrests have been made in the killings of restaurant owner Jesus "Chuy" Campos and good Samaritan Paris Powell.
THE FLOUNDERER
Meanwhile, Oakland Mayor Jean Quan unveiled her “100-block” initiative, which she said would pour resources and law enforcement efforts into the 100 blocks in Oakland where the most violent crime occurs. The mayor, however, made no visible progress toward implementing the plan. She found herself facing other challenges during her first year in office, including brutal budget cuts; bloody battles with Occupy Oakland protesters; mounting pressure to reform the police department; and the resignations of her police chief, city attorney, unpaid legal advisor and deputy mayor. A roiling recall effort against Quan has gained considerable strength.
THE OPPORTUNISTS
Police Chief Anthony Batts and some City Council members used Carlitos' shooting to try to build support for gang injunctions, a controversial law enforcement tactic that places court-ordered restrictions on alleged gang members. But a highly organized anti-injunction group also used the shooting to make its case. The group convinced Carlitos' cousin to speak out against the proposal. Although a Superior Court judge allowed partial implementation of an injunction in the Fruitvale district, the City Council eventually largely dismissed any future use of the strategy after a long and expensive battle.
THE DESERTER
Barely a year into his tenure as a “change agent,” Batts announced his candidacy for the position of police chief in San Jose. He didn’t get the job, furthering tensions between the chief and Oakland leaders, including Quan. Ten months later, in November, Batts resigned, saying a “chief cannot be a chief” in Oakland. Community leaders, including a powerful coalition of pastors, bemoaned Batts' resignation, but police officers and union leaders said the charismatic chief had offered more talk than action.
THE WHODUNNIT
Across the bay, new San Francisco police Chief Greg Suhr faced his first great challenge: the case of 19-year-old Kenneth Harding, who died of a gunshot wound after fleeing from officers during a Muni fare check in the Bayview district in July. Initially, investigators said police had killed Harding after he shot at them. But days later, the medical examiner revealed the fatal bullet in fact came from Harding's own gun. The changing story — and videos of Harding's death that were widely circulated on the Internet — angered neighborhood residents and activists who were already distrustful of police. During an explosive community meeting, Suhr was booed off the stage. As he retreated, he told reporters, “They shouted me down, and you know what? That just means I have to come back again.”
THE FORGOTTEN
Harding wasn’t the only shooting victim whose death incensed the public. In July, Charles Hill, a 45-year-old homeless man, was shot and killed by BART police after a 25-second interaction on the Civic Center station platform. The shooting prompted protests throughout the summer and renewed scrutiny of BART police practices nearly two years after the fatal BART police shooting of Oscar Grant in Oakland.
In 2011, some victims and suspects seemed drawn to San Francisco hotel rooms. In July, "Jeopardy" game show host Alex Trebek proved himself to be more than a TV icon when he chased down a suspected burglar who had broken into his room at the San Francisco Marriott Marquis. Trebek fell and injured himself; suspect Lucinda Moyers told authorities she was a prostitute, not a thief.
That same month, police arrested 31-year-old Mark Lugo, of New Jersey, after finding a Picasso pencil sketch he had stolen from a Union Square gallery in his room at the Hotel Palomar. The arrest led police to Lugo’s Hoboken home, where they found close to half a million dollars worth of stolen art, including more Picassos, a Jean-Michel Basquiat and a Fernand Leger.
On a darker note, the FBI is still investigating the San Francisco Police Department after a series of videos, revealed by Public Defender Jeff Adachi, showed police officers allegedly stealing evidence and property from residents of several single room occupancy hotels. The videos also showed officers illegally entering rooms and revealed discrepancies in police reports, Adachi said.
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