In an auditorium at Fremont High School in Oakland on April 8, the Public Safety Committee and Chief Howard Jordan of the Oakland Police Department met with community members to discuss plans to reduce senseless and violent crimes.

“Somehow along the way we’ve created a society of violence,” said Lynette Gibson McElhaney of Oakland’s Special Public Safety Committee. “It’s time for a transformative philosophy.”

McElhaney mentioned that violence is the condition of the community and stated it is time it gets treated. When the local and federal law enforcement fail to fix the problems embedded in these perpetuating violent crimes, the community falls silent in the face of homicides, she claimed.

Jordan said the OPD is seeking the city’s approval on a contract for continued technical assistance with “Operation Ceasefire” to sustain their already existing program.

Operation Ceasefire aims to meet up with gang members to offer social services and resources as a way to entice them to leave behind their gang lifestyle. If the OPD can successfully cease the fire of the fourteen gangs in Oakland responsible for all the homicides taking place, the community can move forward and transform, claimed Jordan.

Community officials noted that they hope to use Ceasefire as a way to extend a warm hand out to the individuals stuck in the gang lifestyle and allow them the opportunity to be a part of the solution.

Jordan explained the process is first started with what is known as a “call in,” in which law enforcement orders an arbitrary number of people whom they have targeted to come to a meeting. At the meeting, job opportunity training and social resources are offered in exchange for a ceasefire on the streets.

The OPD then tells them the other side of the matter, known as the “stick.” This is when they tell the shot callers to put down their guns or they will come after them in full force with the backing of federal agencies, according to Jordan. After that meeting, he said, those individuals are followed around and spied on by police in the following months.

“Operation Ceasefire is known for helping achieve an 80 percent reduction in crime in the Big Apple over the past 20 years,” according to the SF Gate. It has also been implemented in Boston, Chicago, and a total of 70 cities nationwide according to Jordan.

While many hoped Operation Ceasefire would be a possible solution, David Kennedy’s developed ceasefire implemented in Oakland, in 2009, shows past evidence of the contrary.

Over a two-year period Oakland city officials tried carrying out a ceasefire, hosting 113 sessions. However, they rarely prosecuted those who violated the agreement according to the SF Gate.

Oakland also promised job opportunities that they could not deliver and did not quite emphasize their ceasefire warning clearly enough as the shot callers continued to use weapons and did not get prosecuted. This has made the ceasefire very ineffective and has left the OPD with little to no credibility.

In the prior Operation Ceasefire efforts, tracking down the gang members that participated in the “call in” and following through with the consequences of not ceasing fire was difficult, as Jordan expressed that these members often gave fake home addresses.

The difference in implementing Ceasefire’s strategies this time around is the proposed additional $150,000 invested into technical assistance to sustain and expand the program where it lacked before, said Jordan.

He expressed the OPD wants to utilize their spying and ability to gain intelligence to another level in order to improve their operation. Possibly signifying the use of drones, which were introduced to Alameda County supervisors in mid-February.

Enlightening the Oakland Community with another perspective on violence was Mr. Shakur, a community member of Oakland, who spoke in front of the committee asking for police to “put down the guns.” He went on to plea for training to be more in depth for new officers in this unique urban environment in order to stop OPD from shooting innocent people.

Shakur referred to the the April 3 incident of a 16-year-old shot in the face by a member of OPD who apparently perceived a threat, according to Jordan. The young male was suspected to be a robber, but in reality he was unarmed and had nothing to do with the crime the officers were investigating.

It seems as if the East Bay community is becoming immune to these violent acts, dismissing the seriousness with the mindset of, “…that’s just the way Oakland is,” expressed Shakur.

The lack of access to stable jobs, education, adequate housing, food and transportation makes it increasingly challenging for a human being to survive in poor communities such as areas in Oakland, McElhaney stated. She noted that the time for change in Oakland is overdue and that it’s going to take a full community effort to come out of this violent cycle.