Newsom and Alameda County District Attorney continue to argue over crime

CalMatters Reports It's part of a larger, slowly unfolding effort to influence the state's law enforcement in Oakland and other California cities as crime concerns rise in an election year.

The state's intervention – which includes additional deployment of CHP officers, National Guard lawyers or both in Oakland, San Francisco, Bakersfield and Riverside – is resonating with some concerned residents and business owners.

And it could help fend off criticism from the right that California is a liberal dystopia. But it has drawn criticism from groups demanding police accountability and from privacy experts who worry about the impact on residents, particularly communities of color.

As California's political pendulum swings back toward tough-on-crime policies, the governor has assigned CHP officers to crack down on car thefts, shoplifting and cargo thefts in Bakersfield and fentanyl trafficking in San Francisco. But Oakland has garnered most of the state's attention.

The city's scandal-plagued police department has been under the supervision of a federal agent for two decades. According to data from the police department and the Major Cities Chiefs Association, violent crime rose more than 20 percent in 2023 before declining again in the first half of 2024.