After a widely publicized series of assaults and robberies of elderly Asian Americans, some Oakland Chinatown merchants are turning to armed guards to patrol their business district.
There are volunteer patrols in blue vests roaming Chinatown, but there are also guards in black with batons and gun holsters who were hired through an $80,000 fundraising campaign to deter brutal attacks on the elderly, many of which went viral on social media.
"Right now in Chinatown we do have quite a few groups of people patrolling Chinatown, and right now people feel much safer and in fact the crime incidents have cut down substantially," said Carl Chan, president of the Oakland Chamber of Commerce.
Even before the rise in hate crimes against Asian Americans, Chan said Chinatown’s elderly residents were an easy target because they prefer to carry cash, often don’t speak English and are not likely to report crimes.
Oakland’s new police chief LaRonne Armstrong, whose department is facing a $15 million budget cut because of the pandemic, has assigned a Vietnamese speaking liaison to Chinatown and a Spanish speaking officer to Fruitvale in the hopes that residents will feel comfortable talking to police in their native languages.
But Chan said this is a short term solution.
"We are hoping for a long term solution. While I’m talking with the police department and especially with the new chief, it’s very important that I’m not here to only ever get info on the Chinatown community. I think we all need to advocate for the entire city."
Otherwise, he said people may take matters into their own hands.
On Monday afternoon, a store owner fired on a suspected robber who was trying to steal a camera from a woman on the street. No one was injured, but Chief Armstrong says that may not always be the case.
However, progressive Asian American organizations say that more policing is not the solution.
A coalition of organizations issued a joint statement last week calling instead for community-centered solutions, such as supportive services that are cross-cultural and available in more languages and programs that address basic needs to address the root causes of violence.
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