“In 2014 there was 80 homicides in Oakland but in 2019 there were 63 Homicides” (oaklandmofo.com). This shows that the homicide rates are going down. But why? Homicide is defined as “a killing of one human being by another”(https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/homicide). Oakland has tried many solutions to reduce the number of homicides. Based on research Oakland has a gun violence problem and the two solutions are the buy back program(A program where people sell weapons and get money back) and ceasefire(Was made to stop gang violence and reduce the homicides). Oakland has a gun violence problem. First let’s look at how Oakland is rated because of safety. On
https://www.neighborhoodscout.com/ca/oakland/crime it shows in the infographic the following.
This shows that Oakland is not the safest city this may be because of violent crimes or it could be for other kinds of crimes.. But if the Oakland community wants this to change they need to change and that means helping people if they need help and by convincing people that killing one another is not the right answer to settle arguments and that there are other ways to settle arguments.
Something else that people can look at are the statistics that this shows that Oakland has not had crime rates under the 20s. This is is shown on https://www.sfchronicle.com/crime/article/The-Scanner-Bay-Area-killings-rise-this-year-but-14110174.php.
This shows that Oakland has been dangerous for 3 years straight and that is something that can not stay like that.
One solution that could help change this is the buy back program the buy back program is when people sell their guns back. This is shown by the article titled S.F., Oakland gun Buyback nets Hundreds this article said “Arturo Hurtado of Richmond was still stricken with grief over the mass shooting in Newtown, Conn., that left 20 school children dead when he awoke Saturday morning.So he decided to get rid of his gun – “that darn thing,” he called it – and purged it from his home.”I’ve got kids, man,” said Hurtado, who works at Waste Management in Oakland and has children ages 14, 10, 6 and 1. Hurtado was among hundreds of Bay Area residents who dropped off their firearms at buyback locations in Oakland and San Francisco on Saturday, collecting $200 cash for their weapons, no questions asked.”(Berton) This shows that the buy back program is a great solution because people because they want to save their children another people’s children from weapons. The buyback program could really help people because they may not feel safe around guns and they may not feel safe having their children around guns.
Another solution is a ceasefire which is something which stops people from fighting or a truce. Which is shown by the article titled Oakland Ceasefire Strategy said “Ceasefire is a data-driven violence-reduction strategy coordinating law enforcement, social services, and the community. The major goal is to reduce gang/group-related homicides and shootings. Ceasefire seeks to combine the best of community energies, social services, and strategic law enforcement to reduce gun violence associated with gangs/groups far more effectively than these entities operating alone.”(City of Oakland) Ceasefire can help because it could make a truce between people so that they don’t have to kill people and no one has to die.
However, though the programs are reducing crime, It is not enough. This is shown in the article titled Crime Drops in Oakland, but still too Many guns said “On Jan. 3, Oakland officials celebrated a reduction in crime. A day later, there was a triple homicide in WestOakland.”(sfchronicle.com) This shows that this is a problem because crimes may be going down but homicides and injury are staying the same or going up. This is something that needs to change because a lot of people are dying or getting injured due to weapons that includes children. Another thing that someone might say that people commit because they need help like this person said “ I feel like people commit crimes for reasons that the community cannot understand it could be because they don’t have family that will help them or because nobody wants to help them but people can’t help because the community doesn’t know or understand why.”(Martyn)
To conclude, Oakland has a gun problem and the two solutions to that problem are ceasefire and the buyback program. The ceasefire program could really help because it won’t just stop fighting but it can make it so that people but it could also make it could also make it so that people can teach each other about ceasefire. The buyback program could also really help because instead of people keeping the weapon in their house with children in them they could just sell them and they could other people to do the same.
Annotated bibliography
Celis, Jesus, and Elana Martyn. “Crime Interview .” 22 Nov. 2019. The person is credible because they are a teacher at life academy and they don’t have any reason to lie to us if we have not done anything. They also do not have a reason to lie about something that is this important.
“Oakland’s Ceasefire Strategy.” City of Oakland, City of Oakland, 2019, www.oaklandca.gov/topics/oaklands-ceasefire-strategy. This site is credible because it explains what ceasefire actually is and it also gives examples of it actually working. Another thing that makes it credible is that the website is that it is a government website and that is important to take in because the website was actually made by the government and the government does not have any reason to lie to use.
Berton, Justin. “S.F., Oakland Gun Buyback Nets Hundreds.” SFGate, San Francisco Chronicle, 16 Dec. 2012, this site is credible because it was made pretty recently and that is something to pay attention to because if it’s not recent then it might not be a good site to trust. It was also updated pretty recently a go and that is also something to look at because it is good if a website was updated even if its not updated everyday.
“Oakland, CA Crime Rates.” NeighborhoodScout, 2019, www.neighborhoodscout.com/ca/oakland/crime. This site is credible because it is a website that has a lot of things that are very important and they are things that they should not lie about. Something else that makes this site credible is the fact that this is a website that makes crime rates for a lot of different cities.
McBride, Ashley. “The Scanner: Bay Area Killings Rise This Year but Remain near Historic Lows.” SFChronicle.com, San Francisco Chronicle, 22 July 2019, www.sfchronicle.com/crime/article/The-Scanner-Bay-Area-killings-rise-this-year-but-14110174.php. This site is credible because how shows information that is very important and it is information that people look for and believe. It is also a credible site because they have no reason to lie about any of this information that they are giving us.
Hello! Your article contains very important information and you did a really well job of explaining the dangers of gun violence. The examples and evidence you used supported your ideas perfectly.
Dear Jesus,
I’m a student at SJSU, and after reading your post, I was compelled to find out more about the reasons as to why Oakland has so many issues related to gun policies. Why are the people so fixated on the usage of guns in Oakland? I feel like your post issues a strong statement to nonviolent approaches, while also addressing the benefits that guns and a knowledge of guns have for the public, which is great! Many, especially in California, are not familiar with dealing with guns nor dealing with people who have guns, and you have solid evidence to back up resourceful solutions!
“But if the Oakland community wants this to change they need to change and that means helping people if they need help and by convincing people that killing one another is not the right answer to settle arguments and that there are other ways to settle arguments.” To respond, I agree completely, in that the decisions the Oakland community makes requires the conviction of the overall population in Oakland. However, I do feel that there is a need to dive deeper into the motivations of the people who feel the need to use guns in Oakland. From there, I feel that the process of finding and incorporating a positive solution for the needs of Oakland could be better addressed. Your solutions are quite practical, but I feel like there is a disconnect towards responding to the worries and stresses that many still have towards gun violence. Awesome writing, Jesus! Thanks for the read!
Hi,
What I like about this blog is that you state the problem and then discuss possible solutions. While I think those answers are certainly viable options, I think your article could benefit from digging deeper into the ‘why.’ Why do you think crime/violence is occurring at high rates within Oakland? I suggest you do some correlative studies to look at the factors associated with high crime. Such variables may include: single-motherhood rate, socioeconomic disparity, graduation rate, etc. Maybe high crime rates are linked to these other factors, too. If you can narrow down the ‘why,’ then you have a much higher chance of figuring out the ‘how.’
Hi Jesus,
I really liked your post because you were able to back up your claims with various types of evidence such as tables, graphs, and statistics. I also like how you offered two solutions instead of just one! I think you would like this article about gun violence solutions https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/7/12/20679091/thomas-abt-bleeding-out-urban-gun-violence-book-review . It reviews a book that offers solutions to gun violence in cities.
Dear Jesus,
I think your post was good and influential in a way because you brought up the fact that somebody traded in their gun because of a shooting. A line that stood out to me was ”I’ve got kids, man,” said Hurtado, who works at Waste Management in Oakland and has children ages 14, 10, 6 and 1. Hurtado was among hundreds of Bay Area residents who dropped off their firearms at buyback locations in Oakland and San Francisco on Saturday, collecting $200 cash for their weapons, no questions asked.”(Berton). This shows that people have empathy and are willing to trade in their guns for money and it’s a helpful way to prevent like shootings. I agree with your point about returning guns because your able to reduce the amount of people that have guns which can make oakland safer. Thanks for writing and keep it up.
Thank you so much for reading my blog. The part of your comment that stood out to me was when you said that selling their guns is a good way to prevent shootings. A question i have for you is if you have any other solutions that could also help prevent shootings? Look forward to hearing back.