Oakland business owners call for state of emergency on crime amid symbolic strike

Burglaries spiked by 38% and robberies by 33% over last year

OAKLAND, Calif. — Business owners who declared a “strike” in response to the city’s rising crime rates were forced to close their doors for only two hours on Tuesday, but it was enough time to make their point: Oakland’s rise in robberies and burglaries is intolerable.

“Oakland has become known as a city that is OK with violence and crime, and we’re not,” said Nigel Jones, owner of uptown restaurants Calabash and Kingston 11, which remained closed on Tuesday as usual.

While mostly symbolic, the public demonstration allowed restaurant and store owners to join local business leaders in calling on the mayor to declare a state of emergency. They claim that doing so will help Oakland secure more funding from the state and federal governments for additional law enforcement and direct cash payments to businesses that have suffered financial losses as a result of thefts and robberies.

The message reflected anti-crime sentiment that has won support from Oakland’s more moderate political ranks, as well as the city’s NAACP chapter, but it has also alienated critics who claim the movement is fueled by right-wing reactionaries.

According to data provided by the Oakland Police Department as of Sunday, burglaries in Oakland had increased by 38% and robberies by 33% in 2023 compared to the same period last year. Even more striking, police data show that local burglaries were up nearly 87% year to date in 2021, a year notorious for an increase in pandemic-era violent crime.

Some city chamber of commerce leaders have become anti-crime activists, with Chinatown community leader Carl Chan spearheading recall efforts against Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price, who critics say has been too soft in prosecuting crime.

According to Chan, who organized Tuesday’s strike, up to 100 businesses participated, though he was unable to provide an official count or list of participants because each business community had organized separately.

Political tensions over crime heightened earlier this month when city leaders failed to apply in time for a state grant that would have sent millions of dollars to several Bay Area cities to boost crime-fighting efforts.

At Tuesday’s news conference, Chan, on the other hand, struck a diplomatic tone, saying, “We don’t want to waste time blaming anybody — we want to do something more positive.”

He added that the strike was not really intended to close businesses, but rather to raise awareness of the threats faced by Oakland’s legacy storefronts, such as Le Cheval, a local Vietnamese staple of 38 years that announced last week that it was closing for good due to break-ins at the restaurant.

“I want public safety so that small businesses like mine can work and live in peace,” Son Tran, the restaurant’s owner, said in Vietnamese at the event on Tuesday.

Some business owners have reported losing out-of-town customers who are afraid of being mugged or having their car windows smashed if they visit Oakland.

Nido’s Backyard, a high-end Mexican bar and restaurant near the city’s waterfront, announced earlier this month that it had purchased the adjacent parking lot in order to staff it with private security. If city leaders declare a state of emergency, the business owners and their supporters believe a similar model of parking security could be established at other storefronts using state and federal funds.

Tackling the crime problem has frequently forced Oakland’s more moderate political figures — such as Jennifer Tran, a candidate for Rep. Barbara Lee’s open congressional seat who spoke at Tuesday’s event — to walk a fine line between supporting criminal-justice reform and calling for more cops. Despite accusations that they are backed by wealthy donors known to fund recall campaigns against progressive political leaders, several business owners at Tuesday’s event dismissed the notion.

Taylor Jay, the owner of an eponymous retail line in Oakland, said she came to the event out of sheer frustration. Intruders who break into her stores are motivated by the knowledge that Alameda County prosecutors will treat them leniently, she claims.

Chan’s calls for unity and diplomacy were met with deafening silence from another group of business owners who had not been invited to speak but ultimately shouted down the event. Ole Ole Burrito Express and several Oakland liquor stores are owned by the group. Its leader, Izzy Ahmed, raged that the only way to combat crime was a ruthless police crackdown with widespread arrests.

Despite the group’s hardline stance, some of the event’s speakers expressed sympathy.

“If you really look at it, Afghanistan is safer than Oakland,” said Ahmed Dobashi, owner of the 12th Street Gas and Mart and organizer of local Yemeni-American businesses. “Let’s get Oakland great again.”