Families

Residents and faith leaders gathered in front of City Hall on Tuesday evening to demand that city officials live up to their promise to support a comprehensive approach to end gun violence.

At the Save Lives Now meeting May 22, city officials made public commitments before 3,000 residents to implement an intervention and prevention plan, known as the Oakland Strategy.

They are urging officials to follow through as the recent rash of killings since Friday has put the safety of many neighborhoods at risk. So far this year, Oakland has seen 74 homicides compared to 69 at this time last year.

Community leaders from the Oakland Community Organization say the Mayor and other city officials have "failed their report card to curb violence in the city."

Rev. Dan Stevens of OCO: The Rev. Dan Stevens of Oakland Community Organizations (OCO) shows a report card where the Mayor and other city officials have failed to work to curb the violence in Oakland, at a press conference in downtown Oakland, Calif., on Tuesday, July 22, 2008. O

Parents and their children carried silhouettes made of white paper as a symbol of the 23 people who have been killed since the meeting two months ago. Residents say gun violence and other senseless crime is destroying their neighborhoods.

By Kamika Dunlap -- Oakland Tribune

OCO Community leaders and families: Since the May 22 meeting, 23 more lives, represented by the white cut-out silhouettes, have been lost due to gun violence. (Alison D. Yin/The Oakland Tribune)

I recently completed a series in the Tribune on Oakland's "dirty secret"of teen prostitution. Since then, Oakland police involved with an FBI sting rescued four child victims of human trafficking and arrested 12 people in connection with child prostitution charges. The arrests were part of larger federal sweep that lasted five days and targeted 16 cities across the country. Called "Operation Cross Country," the Justice Department-led effort capped five years of similar stings nationwide.

The children in Oakland peddled for sex are younger than ever before, and the problem is bigger than anyone imagined. Pimps can earn more for younger, healthier and prettier girls. Girls age 11 and 12 can earn as much as $500 a day for their pimps, police say.

Sexually exploited minors at Juvenile Hall: A twelve-year-old girl who has prostituted herself and is a victim of sexual abuse and exploitation writes on her arm, "I wanna go home." in Alameda County Juvenile Hall in San Leandro, Calif. (Alison Yin/The Oakland Tribune)
In addition, Assemblymember Sandré R. Swanson's (D-Oakland) landmark legislation to decriminalize sexually exploited youth gained unanimous support in the Senate Public Safety Committee Hearing with a bipartisan 5-0 vote.

The Chair of the Committee, Senator Gloria Romero (D-Los Angeles) strongly endorsed the bill, and is now a principal co-author. “This is a very important issue, which has been in the news recently and I strongly support this legislation,” stated Senator Romero.

AB 499 will provide a vital safety net for children under 18 who have been forced into prostitution, child pornography, or have been victims of human trafficking by removing the standard law enforcement procedure that treats them as criminals rather than victims.

By Kamika Dunlap -- Oakland Tribune

I recently attended Silence the Violence Day at Defremery Park in West Oakland. The goal was to address problems of crime by lowering the homicide rate and empowering young people to get involved with social activism.

So far, there have been 66 homicides in Oakland this year. By comparison, there were 49 homicides at this time in 2007. About 150 other community leaders, victims and families gathered in the park to call for peace in the streets and to participate in a candlelight vigil. The event was organized by the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights.

By Kamika Dunlap -- Oakland Tribune

Silence the Violence 2008