Block by Block- Beat 33 and 34X
In the first
six months since we first canvassed Beat 33x and provided residents with phone numbers to call for improved city services, it is clear that local residents are taking our efforts to heart:
- Since January, the City has received 53% more calls for service through the Public Works Call Center (615-5566) --507 compared with 690 for all of 2010.
- Participation in the local Neighborhood Council has grown from 5 to almost two dozen a month. Members have identified several priorities that they and the city have been working on
- Prior to our adopting the beat, there had been no calls to the drug hot line, but in the first six months of this year, more than 103 calls have been made, leading to several arrests.
- Issues about abandoned autos resulted in a special abandoned auto detail for quicker City response to calls.
- The request for more late night activities for youth resulted in a Friday Night Live opening up at the Oakland Youth Development Center.
- Requests for more neighborhood activities resulted in Measure Y-sponsored activities at Willie Wilkins Park
Early in July, Chief Batts and I returned to Beat 33X to encourage residents to sign up for , the nation's public safety block party held this year on August 2. Our goal is to double the NNO events in Beat 33x and to increase the total number of events city-wide to 500.
New Resources for Residents
Three milestone events took place in Beat 33 that will provide residents new resources to help them stay healthy, connected and safe:
- Close to 80 residents attended the first Beat 33X Neighborhood Crime Prevention Council meeting of the year. They met their new Beat Officer Pedro Elias, who was among the 57 Beat Officers returned to neighborhoods as a result of the passage of Measure BB last fall. They also shared with city leaders their priorities for making their neighborhood safer. We are thankful to the many neighbors and volunteers who joined us early in January to go door to door to promote this meeting.
- Some 300 people came to the opening of the community health clinic at Madison Middle School on January 26. The Elev8 School Based Health Center provides much needed medical, dental and mental health services and referrals to students and families, many of whom have no other health resources nearby.
Video of opening
- More than 400 people attended the new City-School Joint 81st Avenue Library ribbon cutting on Saturday, January 29. Nine years in the making, this is the newest library in our system. It provides not only books and periodicals, but state-of-the-art computers for students and families. A city-funded Public Art Project creates a new platform for community storytelling that is already reshaping East Oakland's image.
Oakland Local Story
Video of opening
Listening and Organizing Block by Block in East Oakland--Beat 33
In January just days after I was inaugurated Mayor, 50 volunteers joined Deputy Chief Howard Jordan and I knocking door-to-door in the area recently hard hit with shootings. Residents in Beat 33-- the area between 82 and 98th Avenue between International Blvd. and San Leandro St.-- face many challenges that can make daily living a real struggle.
Video of Clean Up
I am partnering with residents and organizations here and in two other police beats in East Oakland that exhibit among the highest "stressors" that place the neighborhoods at high risk for crime, unemployment and low school attendance rates.
Yesterday, we started walking door-to-door to listen to neighbors and to find out what they need to organize themselves. We've learned from other hotspots in Oakland that when neighborhoods organize and the city helps provide them with the focused resources they need, we can give hope to young people and reduce crime.
Volunteers from the Block by Block Organizing Network, the Mayor's Office, city staff, and other organizations handed out a flier that provided information about the upcoming organizing:
- Saturday, January 15, Martin Luther King Jr. Weekend Clean Up in Beat 33: Meet at Allen Temple Church, 8501 International, at 8:30 am, and/or meet at the East Oakland Boxing Association, 816 98th Ave, at 1 pm.
- Monday, January 17, 8:30-1 pm, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Clean-Up: Meet at Madison Middle School, 457 Capistrano Drive.
- Re-establish a Neighborhood Crime Prevention Council for Beat 33 and meet your new Beat Officer, Eastmont Sub Station, 2651 73rd Avenue, Wednesday, January 26th, 6-8 pm.
We also helped identify families with children under the age of 3 to encourage them to participate in the new Baby Learning Community that is forming for their area. Based on the well-known program of the Harlem Kids Zone, the Baby Learning Community provides parents with training and support so that their preschools are well prepared for school on day one.
We intend to focus many different resources to make a real difference in this area. Two other exciting new services include:
- Grand Opening of Elev8 School Based Health Center at Madison Middle School, 457 Capistrano Drive, on Thursday, January 27 at 10 am. This Health Center will not only serve the students, but their families as well.
- Opening of the new City-School Joint 81st Street Library, 1021 81st Avenue, on Saturday, January 29 at 11 am. I am particularly proud of this joint effort. It has been something I've been working on since I was a school board member 8 years ago!
For additional information about our ongoing efforts in Beat 33, contact Reygan Harmon, Senior Policy Analyst for Public Safety in the Mayor's Office. We especially need Spanish speaking volunteers.
