World Courant
They are saying that no good deed goes unpunished.
A candidate for Oakland, California, Metropolis Council, who’s working for workplace on a platform of addressing town’s homeless disaster and “skyrocketing crime ranges,” mentioned she had a bag stuffed with donations stolen by a homeless lady throughout her marketing campaign kickoff on Sunday. To make issues worse, she mentioned police by no means confirmed up when she referred to as 911.
Charlene Wang, who’s working for the California metropolis’s basic election, mentioned the homeless lady took the bag — containing about $1,000 — from Clinton Sq. Park round 4 p.m. Her workforce confronted the girl and begged her at hand over the bag, however she finally ran off together with her ill-gotten beneficial properties, Wang mentioned.
Video of the interplay exhibits Wang begging the deranged lady to present her the bag again, however the homeless lady turns into offended and refuses to return the bag.
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Oakland Metropolis Council candidate Charlene Wang confronts a homeless lady who allegedly stole a bag of cash (left) and Wang speaks (proper). (Charlene for Oakland Metropolis Council)
“Can we please get the orange bag,” Wang politely asks the girl. “Once I’m finished, you need me to get the s— out of there so you possibly can seize it and run,” she replies.
The homeless lady, carrying two hats, a buttoned coat and untied laces, turns into agitated and threatens a volunteer whereas screaming inaudibly.
One other volunteer with Wang says he’ll give her $100 if she fingers over the bag, however she refuses, saying she desires the $100 first.
Then Wang’s workforce tried calling homeless shelters, however they weren’t accessible on the weekend, Wang says. They then referred to as the police, who by no means confirmed up, despite the fact that they mentioned there had been 250 different calls earlier than their incident.
“The whole lack of response we noticed from each psychological well being and regulation enforcement was unacceptable,” Wang advised Fox Information digital. “I’m dedicated to hiring extra police and bettering psychological well being companies to assist pace up response instances and get folks the assistance they want.”
Wang advised ABC7 that police advised her they might come again later to file a report, however she insisted that by no means occurred.
“I actually tried to have a de-escalation dialog together with her to persuade her to surrender the bag,” Wang advised ABC7. “Supply her a sizzling meal on the grocery retailer, even give her cash in alternate for the bag, however it did not work.”
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A volunteer confronts the homeless lady and tries to get the bag again. (Charlene to Oakland Metropolis Council)
“I can solely think about the trauma she’s going via residing on the streets. I am not mad at her or something, however I feel that is one other instance of first responder service. I used to be primarily left to fend for myself.”
Fox Information Digital has reached out to the Oakland Police Division (OPD) for remark.
Oakland has been battling rising issues in recent times, corresponding to excessive housing costs, homelessness and crime. Wang hopes to deal with these points if elected.
Wang, a Democrat who beforehand labored on the Division of Transportation (DOT) for the Biden-Harris administration, is working in a nonpartisan election, and no candidate with a celebration choice can be on the poll.
Oakland Metropolis Council candidate Charlene Wang mentioned a homeless lady stole a bag stuffed with donations at her marketing campaign rally. When she referred to as the police, they did not present up. (Charlene to Oakland Metropolis Council)
“On this (DOT) function, I helped launch a pilot program with the Federal Freeway Administration to make development coaching accessible to folks popping out of jail,” Wang advised Fox Information Digital. “Packages like this reduce the possibility of individuals reoffending in half and are vital items of the general public security puzzle.”
Wang’s high coverage targets embrace addressing public security, decreasing the price of residing and implementing a “new homelessness technique,” based on her web site. A part of that technique is to supply homeless folks with housing, social companies and jobs via a brand new Oakland Corps program to wash up trash and plant bushes with the purpose of serving to to remodel their lives.
Wang plans to put money into know-how and rent extra police to fight crime. He mentioned Oakland has one of many highest violent crime charges within the state, whereas its police drive is “unusually small and properly under the nationwide common for the variety of officers per capita.”
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Based on Oakland Metropolis Council candidate Charlene Wang, Oakland police by no means responded to the scene. (Jane Tyska/Digital First Media/East Bay Instances by way of Getty Photographs)
“I plan to deal with town’s skyrocketing crime and gun violence by investing in know-how and neighborhood policing,” Wang’s web site states.
Knowledge launched by the OPD in Might reported that violent crime charges have been down within the first half of the yr, with an total lower of 33%. Burglaries have been down 50%, whereas murders have been down 17%, assaults have been down 7% and rapes have been down 21%.
Nevertheless, a report from the San Francisco Chronicle and the Oakland Report alleges that OPD will not be evaluating like circumstances with like circumstances when reporting crime figures for Oakland, California, and that the perceived decline in crime is deceptive. The publications argued that OPD was evaluating incomplete 2024 crime figures to finish 2023 crime figures, because the 2024 figures take time to be finalized and have traditionally been underreported in such a comparability.
Michael Dorgan writes for Fox Information Digital and Fox Enterprise.
You possibly can ship tricks to michael.dorgan@fox.com and comply with him on Twitter @M_Dorgan.
Homeless Oakland lady steals cash from metropolis council candidate: ‘I needed to fend for myself’
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