Oakland police weekly crime reports regularly fall short of reality

From homicides, to shootings and car break-ins, Oakland police say crime is trending down.

Even amid signs of progress, people have still reported about 20 car break-ins on average every day this year, according to the Oakland Police Department’s (OPD) CrimeWatch database. But one might miss that detail when looking at the department’s weekly crime summary posted on its website.

For instance, OPD’s crime reports show 10 car break-ins during the week of April 8, 2024. But if you look at the actual number of reports for that week using OPD’s CrimeWatch data, which is raw data, it shows 58 break-ins. 

An NBC Bay Area Investigative Unit analysis of OPD’s crime reports and raw CrimeWatch data found these troubling undercounts have persisted for years. 

Back in fall 2021, reported crimes in Oakland were rising as COVID-19 stay-at-home orders softened and people returned to in-person work. Weekly crime reports for November 2021 show there were 14 car break-ins during the first week of the month, followed by eight the next week, then four and three for the final two weeks. Altogether, the weekly reports counted about 30 car break-ins that month, with some possibly falling into the next report that covered the end of November and the beginning of December.

But OPD’s CrimeWatch data shows there were far more than that — nearly 30 break-ins each day in November 2021. The weekly reports fell 97% short of the real count.

“Police data are complicated and oftentimes very messy,” said Jacob Cramer, a senior policing researcher at nonprofit RTI International.

Cramer worked as an analytics supervisor for the Tucson Police Department. He said law enforcement officers need timely, accurate data to respond to crime trends.

“There’s a lot of missed opportunity when the data is not put together in an actionable or useful way for departments, but also for communities,” Cramer said.

The gap in OPD’s numbers raises questions about whether these reports could mislead stakeholders and community members into thinking weekly crime numbers are much lower. And it is unclear whether tactical decision makers within the department have a full picture of weekly crimes in Oakland.

The Oakland Police Department declined multiple requests for an on-camera interview to discuss the gaps in its reporting.

In a statement to NBC Bay Area, the department said it uses an online tool called Cop Logic that allows the public to report non-violent crimes at a convenient time. Any delay in filing could therefore cause a lag in reporting. The department said that violent crime reports are not impacted by these delays and those numbers are accurate without lag time. Non-violent crimes that miss the deadline for the weekly report are eventually added to the year-to-date column in a later report.

But Oakland City Councilmember Janani Ramachandran pointed to another cause, understaffing in the department’s civilian ranks, as a contributing factor in ongoing delays.

“We don't have the police record specialists and some of these behind the scenes, but incredibly important roles that aren't being filled, to be able to produce police reports on time for the sake of the public,” Ramachandran said.

A city staff report from February lists dozens of open civilian staff positions including crime record specialists, evidence technicians, and crime analysts.

“It's infuriating to see that we can't get our basic records management systems down to be able to present a clear picture of what's going on,” Ramachandran said.

Oakland officials said the city recently hired a new human resources director to start filling those civilian vacancies in the police department, as well as other openings in the city.