DRUG DEALERS UNFAZED BY POLICE PATROL

East Oakland Residents Say Pushers Are Not Being Arrested

OAKLAND -- East Oakland residents in the area of D Street and 98th Avenue
say the sound of gunshots is becoming all too common.

They've counted seven bursts of gunfire in the last few months, mostly at
night.

But too often, they acknowledge, neighbors don't try to reassure each other
after the violence. They don't even speak about it, much less hold meetings.

They don't bother to call police anymore when they sense trouble is
brewing. Although people notice patrol cars cruising by slowly, the
presence of police doesn't seem to flush out the young dealers who stand
around all hours of the day and evening doing their peddling.

Fearful, residents occasionally watch -- from behind pulled curtains -- the
young men who gather in front of their homes to deal drugs to passing
motorists.

It's typical of many streets in this area of East Oakland. One woman, who
asked not to be identified, admits she resided in the 9700 block of D
Street for three years before realizing children lived on the same street.
"I got up early one morning and I saw all the children going to school when
I was out on my porch," she said.

Last month there were two homicides in the area, according to the Oakland
Police Department.

On April 8, about 9:47 p.m., Tyrone Coffey was shot and killed. The city's
35th homicide victim this year, Coffey, 28, was found in front of 9332 E St.

On April 21, at 10:36 p.m., Jamal Christy was killed in front of 9648 D St.
The 28-year-old was the city's 37th homicide victim.

Police and residents say young men are fighting over drug turf.

Early Friday, there was a drive-by shooting, residents said. A young man
was hit by gunfire about 1 a.m., and residents say he struggled to reach a
fence before he fell to the ground.

Police showed up.

Lt. Mike Yoell said one man was shot and injured in a shooting while in the
9200 block of C Street Thursday at 12:45 a.m. -- just around the corner --
and a few minutes later another man was shot in the 9700 block of D Street.
The names of the victims were unavailable.

"Drugs are a problem and we are doing the best we can with the available
resources," said Yoell. "We have officers in the area four days a week, 10
hours a day, but we just need more officers, a lot more. We have less than
700 police officers and we should have between 1,200 and 1,600. We just
don't have the money for more officers."

What's going on in the neighborhood?

"It's drugs," said the woman who lives on D Street. "Most of the people who
live around here don't seem to care about what's going on. They don't speak
to each other about this or anything else. There's no Block Club or
Neighborhood Watch. Well, they say there's supposed to be one. I never hear
about meetings."

Several years ago, City Councilmember Larry Reid (Elmhurst-East Oakland)
came to the neighborhood with a drug task force operation that hoped to
crack down on drug sales.

"All they were doing was posing as drug dealers and arresting who wanted to
buy drugs," the concerned woman said. "But they didn't arrest the drug
dealers we see out here all the time.

"The police just drive by slow and look at the people on the street, and
that's it. I want the police to arrest the ones selling the drugs. They
know who's doing it. I see them talking to the drug pushers and laughing
with them. That's awful. Now, it's dangerous out here and they are killing.

"You see these young men take the drugs out of their mouths or they have it
hidden nearby or they have it on them and you see them selling it on the
streets. I don't want to move because Oakland is my home. This looks like a
nice street. Mostly homes. It could be a nice neighborhood, but it's
dangerous. I just want the police to clean up the street."

The young men selling the drugs are in their 20s and 30s, she said.

"I used to hear about the shootings on other streets ... on 77th Avenue or
the 80s (avenues). Now, it's here."