NEWS FROM: Council President De La Fuente

MEDIA RELEASE
March 18, 2008

Contact:
Claudia Jimenez, Aide to Council President De La Fuente
(510) 238-7051 or (510) 734-4071 (cell)

Council President De La Fuente Announces Outcome of 3 Month Anti-Crime Project in Fruitvale; Efforts focused on all aspects affecting the quality of life of residents in target area

(Oakland, CA) – March 18, 2008, Oakland City Council President and District 5 Council Member Ignacio De La Fuente announced the outcomes of the Fruitvale Safety Project – a three-month focused effort to reduce rising crime and violence in the vibrant Fruitvale Neighborhood through improved coordination and targeting of resources.

The three month effort which ran from December to March focused on the area bound by San Leandro Blvd., Foothill Boulevard, 23rd Avenue to 40th Avenue.  The Fruitvale Safety Project brought together members from various city agencies including:  Oakland Police Department (OPD) Problem Solving Officers, Crime Reduction Team (CRT), Measure Y Outreach Workers, Neighborhood Services Coordinators (NSCs), Parks and Recreation, Nuisance Enforcement Unit, Park Maintenance, Litter Enforcement, Code Compliance, Neighborhood Law Corps, Tree Services, Public Works’ Electrical Division and Alameda County Supervisor Alice Lai-Bitker’s office.

The action team met on a bi-weekly basis to track projects, coordinate efforts, and problem solve by building off of team members’ areas of expertise, “Its incredible how much we were able to accomplish just by sitting at the table together to work as a team on the same issues,” said Council President De La Fuente.

“We already had the resources,” said the Council President, “We just needed to be smarter about how to tackle the issues.  When OPD said, to the tree division, those trees are blocking the light my officers need to patrol these high crime areas, the trees were trimmed within days.  It was that easy and it worked.”

The coordination of focused enforcement and efforts will continue to take place through the Service Delivery System Team of which the Fruitvale Safety Project is a subset. 
The community responded positively to the improved approach in their neighborhood.  Eugene Smith, Chair of NCPC 20X stated, “How a community supports safety, provides insight to how a community views itself.  By promoting safety, we encourage a positive self image of our community.  By doing so, we make everyone’s life better and I’d like to thank Councilmember Ignacio De La Fuente for his insight and all agencies involved in the Fruitvale Safety Project.”

In addition to coordinated efforts to deal with crime related matters in the project area, the team focused on additional improvements and outreach such as: