Crime-Reduction Efforts on Oakland's Hegenberger Corridor Showing 'Promising Results,' Mayor Thao Says

Crime along East Oakland’s troubled Hegenberger corridor, which leads to the Oakland International Airport, has decreased since last year amid a greater presence of law enforcement and more collaboration with community groups, Mayor Sheng Thao announced on Monday.

“We are seeing some promising results,” said Thao, flanked by law enforcement and business leaders at an event in front of the Oakland Airport Hilton hotel. “We are seeing that crimes — whether it’s burglaries, property crimes, homicides — all in this corridor, they are trending down.”

The multipronged effort includes an increased police presence in the area, the deployment of “safety ambassadors,” and a private security team hired to patrol various businesses along the corridor.

This all comes in response to public pressure after years of rampant car break-ins, carjackings and other crimes that have plagued the corridor that connects the airport to the rest of the city. Crime along Hegenberger Road drew national attention in January when In-N-Out Burger announced plans to close its only Oakland location, at the Hegenberger exit off Highway 880, citing crime concerns. The restaurant, set to close next week, will be the first location the chain has ever permanently shuttered in its 75-year history.

“We all know crime has caused significant impacts on a lot of our businesses, and specifically the tourism sector here in Oakland,” said Dhruv Patel, president of Ridgemont Hospitality, which owns multiple hotels near the airport. At the press conference, Patel said that things have been improving with the city’s focus on the neighborhood. “The increase in police, sheriff and CHP presence is welcomed by hoteliers, residents and tourists alike. The ambassador program will only continue to build on that and bolster our overall collective efforts.”

“In the past several months, we have seen an overall improvement along the corridor,” Patel said.

Oakland police said property crimes in the area have gone down since mid-2023.

“Currently, we have six foot-patrol officers and one sergeant dedicated to East Oakland,” said Angelica Mendoza, deputy chief of the Oakland Police Department. “Officers focus on enhancing security in shopping centers and gas stations within their respective areas.”

This is all part of a $2 million effort to fund safety improvements across the Hegenberger corridor, Fruitvale neighborhood and downtown Oakland. At a press conference last month at the Holiday Inn & Suites on Hegenberger Road, law enforcement and community leaders also announced they would meet quarterly to coordinate strategies to reduce crime.

In February, 120 California Highway Patrol officers were deployed to Oakland and elsewhere in Alameda County as part of a “surge operation” that resulted in scores of arrests and the recovery of hundreds of stolen vehicles.

“The CHP will continue to conduct unannounced surge operations alongside our law enforcement partner agencies in high-crime areas across the East Bay region,” said Don Goodbrand, CHP’s Golden Gate division commander. “Future searches will consist of 40 to 65 officers, in addition to the 72 that are currently assigned to the Oakland office for patrol.”

Oakland Councilmember Treva Reid, whose district includes the corridor, also highlighted the work of community safety ambassadors.

“The safety ambassador program was launched at a critical time here in East Oakland,” Reid said. “We all feel the weight of the public safety crisis. It has overwhelmed us in every corner of our city and throughout this region.”

The city launched the program last year and contracted the nonprofit Black Cultural Zone to employ 35 ambassadors in the area. Similar community ambassador programs were also launched last year in Fruitvale and Chinatown.

“We have to have respectful, community-oriented policing if any of this is going to work,” said Greg Hodge, CEO of the nonprofit Brotherhood of Elders Network. “For years, the relationship with law enforcement in the Black community, shall I say, has not been good.”

He added: “This is a moment for us to get it right.”