LOCATION PLAYS ROLE IN KILLINGS

Oakland Study Links Homicides And Social Problems

Oakland is a city with many poor people, drug dealers and a high
murder rate.

Oakland has a large middle class, strong community groups and is
relatively safe, with few killings.

Both statements are true, according to an exhaustive study of
homicides in Oakland.

The study found that almost all the city's killings in 1997 took place
in four predominantly low-income neighborhoods in the flatlands.
Police believe many of these killings are linked to drugs.

Meanwhile, middle-class neighborhoods such as Rockridge, Oakview and
Montclair were scarcely touched by killers that year.

Police and public officials said the study by an Oakland sociologist
notes that there is a strong correlation between the murder rate and
social problems, and that the key to reducing crime is community
involvement.

"It shows where we need to do more work," said Mayor-elect Jerry Brown
of the homicide study. "Our top priority is to reduce the crime rate
in Oakland. We need to go to the high-crime areas and help mobilize
the community."

The 300-page report studies how, and why, about only half of the 96
cases were solved. It breaks down everything from the time of day each
person was killed to the weapon used and possible motives.

The study includes dozens of charts that categorize numerous kinds of
killings as well as information about victims and suspects. The report
was prepared for the Oakland Police Department free of charge by
sociologist Gini Graham Scott.

A resident of Upper Rockridge, Scott said she was curious about
Oakland murders after years of hearing stories.

"I just wanted the facts and once I got them I decided to analyze this
information every way possible," Scott said. "Here is solid evidence
that supports -- or refutes -- anecdotal bits of information that
people have had.

"People have had a bad image of Oakland for a long time," Scott added.
"But the facts show many neighborhoods are not so dangerous. There are
problems that need attention. It's not like random killers are going
out and shooting people. It's people resolving conflicts within a
community using violence. The homicides are really focused in certain
areas."

Police need public aid

One of Scott's major conclusions is that police need help from the
public. In most solved cases, investigators found witnesses who either
saw the crime or helped them identify potential suspects.

City Manager Robert Bobb said the report could help Oakland -- which
historically has had one of the highest homicide rates in California
- -- develop a strategy to reduce crime.

"Crime is already down here but this is the kind of information we
need to effectively develop strategies," Bobb said. The Police
Department, which opened casebooks to Scott, found her work did not
produce any surprises "but it made us look at things and the way we do
them," said homicide Lt. Paul Berlin.

While DNA typing and fingerprint analysis are important, cops usually
break cases because witnesses tip off investigators.

"If you don't have a witness, you're not going to get a case solved,"
Berlin said. "We often need information to help focus our
investigation. It comes down to good old-fashioned police work. We
work hard to find witnesses, establish leads and develop
informants."

Here are some of Scott's major findings:

* More than half of all killings (54 percent) are drug-related. Less
than half of the drug-related cases, which include most drive-by
shootings, were solved by police.

* The vast majority of people died of gunshot wounds (77 percent),
commonly from handguns (83 percent).

* Shootings are much harder to solve than stabbings and
beatings.

* The majority of victims were African American (71 percent) as were
the majority of known suspects (77 percent).

* The most dangerous time of night is between 8 p.m. and midnight when
one-third of the killings occurred.

* Two-thirds of the homicides were reported to police within five
minutes and 80 percent within 10 minutes.

* Two-thirds of the killings occurred on the street.

* Homicide detectives, who usually work in two-person teams, handle an
estimated 10 to 12 cases a year.

* The deadliest day of the week is Saturday while the safest day is
Friday.

Scott said she was surprised that only 15 percent of the homicides in
Oakland last year received any coverage, mostly in the Oakland Tribune.

"It tended to be the most sensational crimes or killings in
neighborhoods where such things are rare," Scott said.

In an interview, Scott cited a 1998 murder three blocks from her home.
On May 5, Oakland pediatrician Dr. Kerry Spooner-Dean was stabbed to
death in her Florence Avenue home. The case was front-page news and
covered extensively by television. Nine days later, police arrested a
50-year-old ex-convict who entered the home on a carpet cleaning job.
Jerrol Woods pleaded guilty to murder and was sentenced to life in
prison without parole in August.

"That was a case that everyone seemed to be talking about," Scott
said. "But it is really the exception."

Drug-related killings

Scott's report dwells at length on the problems faced by police in
solving drug-related killings, which are the most difficult to solve
because the killer often has little connection to the victim.

"If you have a drive-by shooting at 2 a.m., you don't have a lot of
physical evidence," said Berlin, of the Oakland police. "There aren't
many witnesses sitting on their front porch or looking out the window
then. Most of the people don't want to talk to us."

Paul Cobb, a longtime West Oakland community activist, agreed that
police need community support.

"It's the people who can provide clues," said Cobb, who hosts a public
affairs program on Oakland's public access cable channel. "We need to
help police catch people who victimize the community."

But people don't learn to trust police overnight, said Cobb, whose car
and home have been vandalized or burglarized 10 times in the past
decade. "People need to feel that they can speak to police without
their neighbors finding out," Cobb said. "Lots of people are afraid of
retribution. They are afraid that their name will get back to the
perpetrator. I can't blame them, if Bill Clinton can't even keep his
grand jury testimony from becoming public, then no one in West Oakland
can keep their name from getting out on the street as a witness."

Checked-by: Patrick Henry