The recent string of armed robberies of occupied stores is worse than previously known.
We know about the Safeway, WalMart and Home Depot that were held up while patrons watched.
Now Patch has learned that the Togo's in Westgate Shopping Center was the target of a similar heist on December 15.
San Leandro police confirmed Wednesday that a lone gunman entered the sandwhich shop at about 7 pm on that Saturday before Christmas, ordered everyone into the back of the store and forced an employee to open the safe.
The robber fled on foot with an undisclosed sum of cash.
No injuries were reported. There has been no arrest in the case.
The previously unreported Togo's heist came two days before a pair of gunmen stuck up the WalMart in Westgate Center. One person is in custody and another is being sought for that holdup.
Most recently, on Tuesday night, a pair of gunmen held up the Home Depot in the same shopping center, and escaped with cash.
That makes three store stickups in Westgate Center in a month.
In late September five armed men terrorized the Safeway on Bancroft Avenue and escaped with cash.
There have been no breaks in that case.
That comes to four times in four months that armed robbers have stuck up stores filled with patrons.
San Leandro Police Lieutenant Randy Brandt said the Safeway robbery was the most unusual of the lot given the size of the gang.
He noted that authorities have made some headway in the WalMart case.
But holdups are difficult to crack unless police get hard evidence, a confession or, as is often the case, one of the perpetrators gets arrested for some other offense.
"There has been an unfortunate rise in such crimes throughout the Bay Area," Brandt said.
(Patch will have more on the robberies.)
Oakland is right next door, and it's a mess, crime-wise. That is another reality for which there is no fast fix. Do we have any data about where these guys are coming from? Are there things that businesses or residents can do in the short term to make SL a less attractive target?
About 1/3 of crimes in SL are committed by Oakland residents, at least when residence is reported. The data gathered is imperfect, to say the least.
And a few more, such as....Why are the loudest and most prominent voices ones parroted by David here and NRA lobbyists and gun "rights" extremists? Why do we not hear more from local law enforcement regarding officers' working conditions and the growing concern that they are sometimes being outgunned by this violent environment?
Here are the figures: http://www.sanleandrobytes.com/archives/016522.html
In the 2011 fiscal year alone, New York City paid out a staggering $550.4 million-- or about $70 per New York resident-- to settle a litany of lawsuits ranging from personal injury claims to medical malpractice. A large chunk of that over half a billion dollar figure-- a five percent increase over the year before-- stems from lawsuits brought against the New York Police Department. Lawsuits against the NYPD cost city taxpayers $185 million, more than any other city agency. Using a report conducted by City Comptroller John Liu, The Daily News reports there were 8,882 lawsuits against the NYPD, a dramatic 35 percent increase over the previous fiscal year. Between July 1, 2011, and June 30, 2012, the NYPD reportedly paid $22 million to settle civil rights cases made against officers.
July 2011 NY city population 8,244,910 with 34,500 police force members, or 1 officer per 238.98 people. July 2011 SL city population 86,071. Even if you increase the police force to 120 (as you feel would equal NYPD) that would equal 1 officer per 717 people. Even with basic math, that is a much larger ratio of residents per officer in SL than in NY, but you want them to be paid equally?
Answer: the city's daily activity log reports the time, place and basic type of crime, assault, robbery, etc. So that information was published for Dec. 15 and missed by media. But there are no details. A robbery in the log could be a person being held up or a store being invaded. I learned about Togo's by going to visit Home Depot to see if I could learn any more about that incident (I did not). People in the area told of the Togo's holdup. I then asked SLPD for details which were provided and reported.
Why do we not hear more from local law enforcement regarding officers' working conditions and the growing concern that they are sometimes being outgunned by this violent environment?
I would agree with you, though. I am sure if we compared the arrest records of Oakland residents vs SL residents vs Danville residents that Danville would be the lowest. Another result of haves vs. have-nots? I think we are all aware that higher economic areas have a lower crime rate. What to do to change that is the more difficult question.
Marga can fill you in.
The point is Kate, for the umpteenth time is that we could hire more officers if they were paid even on the scale of NYPD, which is not a "low-cost" police department. You make my point wonderfully. SL is woefully underpoliced.
According to you, NYC settled NYPD-related lawsuits for $22M. That works out to ...a bit less than $3/resident. It seems we're not getting what we pay for... If you're going to try to "battle" me with statistics, it would help if you'd arm yourself.
Now they hang out at the Starbucks on MacArthur The one by the bagel shop that's why none of those stores get robbed
of corruption when had been a police station intern.For example food is free for police offices in every restaurant in neighborhood.it's most common sample. He passed all SFPD tests with flying colors and last day SLPD rejected him. The same time the daughter of a former police officer,my co-worker, applied too.She had one year of community college with lowest possible GPA under the belt,two kids from not identifiable men,her father have complained about her relations with gang members permanently,anyway she was recruited to the SFPD Police Academy.I call it the Debby Eagerly police recruiting style,do you remember the Oakland City manager and gang informant the same time connected with East Oakland gangs,who changed police academy tests for her daughter,who was admitted four times to police academy, do you believe San Leandro is different My son asked his tutor from PAL,why,and this guy,who had been a deputy SF chief later said "You know the bad economic now and many connected people come".
There's a Starbucks in marina shopping center and cop cars in and out
Great catch, Jeffrey!
I would hope criminals are smarter than crows, but then again, maybe not.
In all seriousness, I have seen this used before in traffic enforcement... maybe it's worth a shot, minimal/zero cost...
Paul Blart: Mall Cop - Rotten Tomatoes http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/paul_blart_mall_cop/ via @RottenTomatoes