The Oakland Police Department (OPD) has refuted claims that it has under-reported crime data that shows a dramatic drop in crime this year compared to 2023.
According to reports from the San Francisco Chronicle and the Oakland Report, the Oakland Police Department does not use like-for-like comparisons when reporting crime statistics for Oakland, California, so the perception of a decrease in crime is misleading.
Data released by OPD in May showed violent crime rates were down for the first half of the year, with overall crime down 33%. Property crimes were down 50%, homicides down 17%, assaults down 7% and rapes down 21%.
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Oakland police have refuted claims that they are under-reporting crime data that shows a dramatic drop in crime this year compared to 2023. (Gabriel Lurie/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)
The figures were touted by progressive Mayor Shen Tao and California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who are facing a recall vote in November over concerns about public safety and economic vitality.
Oakland has been plagued by problems in recent years, including housing costs, homelessness and crime. Last week, dozens of people attacked a mini-mart at a gas station near San Francisco Bay-Oakland International Airport, vandalizing the store.
“Oakland is turning around and our focus on public safety is paying off,” Tao wrote on May 1. “After years of rising crime rates, Oakland is experiencing a significant and sustained decline in overall crime.”
However, the San Francisco Chronicle and Substack’s Oakland Report suggested that OPD was comparing the incomplete 2024 crime tally to the complete 2023 crime tally because 2024 numbers take longer to be finalized and are historically underreported when compared this way.
“For example, the total number of property crimes reported by Oakland police in week 17 of 2023 (April 17-23) was 3,849,” Timothy Gardner wrote in his Oakland Report investigation. “A year later, after all the data had been fully tabulated, the final number of property crimes was 6,026 for the same week. This means that the initial crime report undercounted property crimes by 57% compared to the initial tally of 3,849.”
Gardner’s analysis found that the number of property crimes was the most inaccurate, having been undercounted by 20 to 50 percent in recent years.
Dozens of people looted a mini-mart at a gas station near San Francisco Bay-Oakland International Airport and vandalized storefronts. (KTVU)
The San Francisco Chronicle added that with currently available data it’s impossible to know how accurate the 33% drop in overall crime reported by the San Francisco Police Department was.
“A Chronicle analysis of Oakland’s past years of undercounting shows that while Oakland’s overall crime rate was almost certainly declining through April, the decline could be 20% or even lower once the data is fully updated,” the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
OPD’s online reports face delays of up to six weeks because they need to be verified and imported into a records management system, the paper quoted police as saying, noting that low-priority crimes are generally not investigated immediately and are often compiled from reports victims submit online.
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In response, OPD defended its crime reporting in a statement provided to Fox News Digital, noting that there has been no change to how it reports weekly crime data.
“Our weekly crime reports are current and accurate for crimes involving imminent danger or loss of life, such as homicide, shootings, sexual assault and robbery,” the OPD statement read in part. “Property crimes, such as robbery, motor vehicle theft and larceny, are accurate at the time of reporting.”
OPD acknowledged that it can take time to compile weekly crime statistics, but said this is common among other police departments.
“Depending on a community’s use of the online reporting system, there may be a delay in the total number of property crimes reported. These online crime reports must be reviewed and verified by staff before being included in crime statistics,” the statement read.
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Mayor Shen Tao reacts while delivering his first State of the City address at City Hall, Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2023 in Oakland, California. (Getty Images)
“This practice is not unique to Oakland, as other jurisdictions around the Bay Area are similar and experience similar delays and have similar disclaimers regarding lag times in their reporting methods.”
Tao, whose home was searched by the FBI last month as part of a political corruption investigation, did not respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.
Lt. Barry Donnellan, head of Oakland’s Theft and General Crimes Division, told the San Francisco Chronicle that the police department isn’t intentionally trying to mislead the public, but that its IT infrastructure is outdated. A report management system issued to Oakland police in 2006 has yet to be upgraded, he said.
“Do we know the numbers are flawed? Yes,” Donnellan told the San Francisco Chronicle. “Do we have the willingness of professional law enforcement to fix it? Of course there is.”
