The California Highway Patrol will continue operations for another month to combat crime in Oakland and other locations in the Bay Area, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Friday morning as he pushed for a change to a controversial police policy.
Newsom joined CHP and Oakland leaders Friday at a news conference at the CHP office in Oakland to announce a continuation of the action. CHP support for law enforcement in the East Bay as well as the city of Vallejo in Solano County.
Oakland’s police pursuit policy came under fire during the news conference, with Newsom and other speakers railing against a policy that limits officers’ ability to pursue crime suspects. The Oakland Police Department only allows pursuits involving “crimes of violence” and crimes involving firearms. It means police cannot pursue people suspected of committing crimes such as reckless driving, sideline driving, drunk driving and shoplifting.
Newsom said the future of CHP support for law enforcement in Oakland will depend on changes in Oakland police policies.
“We’re going to need changes specifically in pursuit policies here in Oakland,” Newsom said. “This has been declared over many months [CHP] The Deputy Commissioner has just highlighted a remarkable story that has been told to me and others several times about suspects who have been chased and were shocked that they were actually apprehended, as they probably had not been in the past.”
CHP officers are not subject to the same pursuit restrictions as Oakland police, allowing CHP to initiate pursuits.
“You could be drunk, you could run a red light, you could get close to a school bus in the morning hours that’s right in front of a police officer, and the pursuit policy in Oakland says we can’t pursue that suspect. cannot address that suspect,” Newsom continued. “Reckless driving, someone literally endangering people’s lives, that happens right in front of an officer in a vehicle, that officer cannot pursue that suspect under this extreme pursuit policy here in Oakland.”
In July, Newsom sent a letter to then-Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao, the City Council and the Police Commission encourage them to reconsider the policy. At its September meeting, the commission opted not to change the policy, which supporters say is necessary to curb pursuits that endanger the public. Newsom said the danger of police pursuits can be mitigated by incorporating best practices from law enforcement agencies across the U.S. to reduce risks.
Interim mayor Nikki Fortunato Bas, who stepped into the office after Thao’s recallsaid in a prepared statement that she applauded Newsom’s efforts to expand cooperation with police and the CHP and welcomed the advice of the governor’s team.
“Over the past year, Oakland has dramatically reduced crime across all categories, with an overall reduction of 34%. CHP’s continued presence in Oakland allows OPD to focus resources on responding to calls for service and addressing violent crimes through our intelligence-led ceasefire strategy. ‘ said Fortunato Bas. “We greatly appreciate the CHP’s targeted enforcement of traffic violations, auto theft, side hustles and illegal weapon seizures and look forward to continuing this important partnership in the future.
2025.”
City Councilman Kevin Jenkins told reporters at the news conference that with four new council members starting their terms in January, there is now overwhelming support to change the policy, which Newsom called an outlier not only in California but also in the US.
Huy Nguyen, president of the Oakland Police Officers Association, on Friday welcomed the expansion of the CHP deployment to address what he called “rising crime in Oakland.”
“We look forward to Oakland’s elected and appointed leaders seeing what outsiders – like the governor and visitors – see we need to fight crime and criminals,” Nguyen said in a prepared statement.
CBS News Bay Area has reached out to the Oakland Police Commission for comment.
The CHP began its outreach in Oakland in February and July. Newsom quadrupled the number of CHP officers working in the regionwhile also calling out former District Attorney Pamela Price, who has done just that since recalled. The state also installed 290 Flock security cameras in the city of Oakland and 190 cameras on highways in the East Bay, which have assisted law enforcement in dozens of investigations, the governor’s office said.
Newsom also said he has directed the CHP to expand its efforts in collaboration with the Vallejo Police Department The current staff shortage has implications for public safety. In August, the VPD said that of the 137 sworn officer positions in Vallejo, only 73 had been filled, and the department also does not have a permanent police chief.
As of 2024, the CHP reports that its operations in the Bay Area have made it possible to recover $13 million in stolen property and arrest more than 1,400 suspects. The statewide operations targeted organized criminal behavior, gun violence, fentanyl distribution and sideshows and street racing in Oakland, San Francisco, Bakersfield and San Bernardino.
Newsom pointed out that new laws will take effect in 2025 tighten penalties for shopliftingvehicle theft and sideshows that indicate the state is doubling down on public safety and crime prevention strategies.
The CHP’s Organized Retail Crime Task Force, created in 2019 and expanded by Newsom in 2021, has recovered more than $51.3 million in stolen property since its creation, the governor’s office said.
