Crime & Safety
Spagnoli Says Oakland Crackdown Not Pushing Crime Into San Leandro
Speaks at Coffee with Cops meeting Tuesday.
Despite that crime is rising and pressing in from Oakland, the statistics show a fairly stable level of incidents in San Leandro, Chief Sandra Spagnoli said at a Coffee with Cops meeting Tuesday morning.
"This is a very big community and crime happens," Spagnoli told a small audience at the San Leandro Senior Center.
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But she said there has been no spike and added, "we very pro-actively go out there and find people who are coming into the community."
Patch asked Spagnoli if a crackdown by Oakland police on that city's 100 most violent blocks was pushing crime into San Leandro.
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She said it was not, but added that her contacts in Oakland said the crackdown was pushing criminals into adjoining Oakland neighborhoods.
Spagnoli said the factor most likely to increase crime in San Leandro is the state budget crisis. Lawmakers in Sacramento have pushed prisoners out of overcrowded state jails back into county lockups. Counties have released some non-violent offenders early.
Some attendees asked about specific houses and apartment buildings that they considered problematic. Police said it is very difficult to get troublemakers out of their residences, and the only solution was to be patient and make persistent trouble calls.
Sergeant Mike Sobek talked about a on cell phone use in cars during April. On April 2nd, when San Leandro Police started their campaign, they issued 60 citations on that first day alone. He said each ticket would cost upwards of $250.
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