4 Oakland Police Officers Shot & In Critical Condition

CNN is reporting on this. Apparently, in addition to the officers, a suspect was also hurt. It's a bad situation. Street Crime is a serious problem, and more needs to be done to prevent incidents like this.

Thanks for the update IG, and you're correct. Let's hope however that crime doesn't worsen since the current economic climate could force budget cuts in law enforcement.

You make a good point about the economy being linked with crime, but law enforcement plays a very small part of the solution. Yes, it is important, but more important is the economy as a whole. The best solution is tackling the root cause of the problem. The motive for street crime is difficult financial situations. When people don't have jobs and don't have money, they are more likely to take part in criminal activities. Increasing law enforcement might make slight differences, but the best way to contain the problem is to make sure that more people are doing well financially.

Thanks for your perspective. However, my initial point wasn’t about linking crime to the economy. I was making a brief point about the struggling economy’s potential impact on maintaining adequate law enforcement. Budget cuts could prevent the effectiveness of law enforcement and threaten public safety (e.g. fewer officers/investigators, the parole system, cuts to public safety initiatives, etc, etc). Budget cuts in law enforcement could result in a reduction of law enforcement services that provide public safety to communities.

Regarding the effect of a weak economy on crime, crime usually does increase when the economy is weak. However, violent crime isn’t always related to financial adversity (e.g. crimes of passion, drugs, chemical imbalance, rage, shame, revenge, rejection, etc). Yes, the solution is to get to the root of any problem (rebuilding the economy will take long), but this is not law enforcement’s job. The public has a high demand for law enforcement services regardless of the reason for crime, and we must be realistic about what’s occurring on the streets.

We need to do both; have adequate law enforcement as well as adequate help/support/services to those at risk of committing a violent crime (to help solve their issues/problems before they snap). So solving the root of most problems will take time. The economy will take time to rebound for example. In the meantime, I hope we can maintain great law enforcement. By the way, after the Mumbai attacks, the Indian gov’t was severely criticized for not spending enough money on law enforcement in Mumbai (especially after they spent millions going to the moon).

The guns rights people will insist that guns aren't the problem.

I know. It's ridiculous!

That's certainly true.

Road Rage of the worst kind! Just WAY too many guns down there!

I agree slydog.

WHERE IS THE OUTRAGE OAKLAND PEOPLE????????

Its that power of gun in every hand that leads down to this point!

The report is inconclusive. We have just learned that the gunner has been shot dead. Another part of the story states that the 4 police officials are in critical condition. What happened at the start is not known. May this point be highlighted please?

That is a shame.