![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/oaklandside.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/AP21189768367642-1-1-780x516.jpg\")
Help us tell the Oakland stories that matter to you and your fellow Oaklanders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yes, I want to chip in to support Oaklandside\u2019s work!<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Thursday he is sending additional CHP officers to the San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles, San Diego, and other regions of the state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n During a press conference<\/a> in Sacramento, the governor cited the \u201csuccesses\u201d of CHP\u2019s ongoing surge operations in Oakland, Bakersfield, and San Bernardino as a reason for expanding the agency\u2019s law enforcement efforts statewide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt\u2019s an extraordinary thing to walk the streets of Oakland and have people come up and say \u2018Thank you\u2019 to the California Highway Patrol,\u201d Newsom said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Never miss a story.<\/strong> Sign up for The Oaklandside\u2019s free daily newsletter.<\/strong>Email<\/p>\n\n\n\n San Diego, the Inland Empire, Los Angeles, the Central Valley, Sacramento, and the San Francisco Bay Area will see additional CHP \u201ccrime suppression teams\u201d in the coming weeks, according to a news release<\/a> from Newsom\u2019s press office. These teams will assist local police through data-sharing, conduct proactive enforcement in \u201chigh-crime areas,\u201d target repeat offenders, and seize illegal drugs and guns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Describing Oakland as a \u201chot spot\u201d for crime, Newsom said at the press conference that he first deployed CHP officers to the East Bay early last year<\/a> after meeting with former Mayor Sheng Thao, Oakland City Council members, Alameda County supervisors, and community leaders. \u201cPerhaps the most vocal advocates for partnership with the California Highway Patrol were members of the clergy,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThat operation continues to this day, with tremendous success \u2026 embraced by the new mayor, current members of the City Council, and those who helped sponsor this effort at the county level,\u201d Newsom said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Since the agency\u2019s surge operation in Oakland began in February 2024, CHP officers have recovered 4,257 stolen cars and 247 illegal guns and made 73 felony arrests, 420 misdemeanor arrests, and 1,528 DUI arrests, according to the governor\u2019s press office<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe full-time crime suppression team in Oakland has been extremely successful,\u201d CHP Commissioner Sean Duryee said during Thursday\u2019s press conference. \u201cThe numbers speak for themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Newsom, who over the past several months has appeared to position himself closer toward a presidential run<\/a> in 2028, emphasized that CHP\u2019s targeted enforcement efforts have \u201cbipartisan\u201d support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe\u2019re moving in Republican communities, Democratic communities \u2026 we\u2019re all moving in the same direction, and that\u2019s the spirit we\u2019re bringing to this expansion of our existing program,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The governor\u2019s announcement comes as crime rates are falling statewide, including in Oakland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n According to OPD\u2019s most recent crime data<\/a>, violent crime \u2014 which includes homicide, aggravated assault, rape, and robbery \u2014 is down 28% compared with the same period last year. Preliminary data further shows that burglaries are down 26%, car thefts are down 45%, and property theft is down 20% year-over-year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n California\u2019s homicide rate last year was the second lowest it has been since at least 1966. California has generally seen<\/a> homicide, robbery, and property crime rates at or below pre-pandemic levels, according to Newsom\u2019s press office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Newsom\u2019s announcement comes less than three months after Castlemont High School teacher Marvin Boomer<\/a> was fatally struck in a car crash resulting from a CHP pursuit through East Oakland. CHP has previously stated<\/a> that its officers had called off the pursuit seconds after initiating it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n roselyn@oaklandside.org<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Roselyn Romero covers public safety for The Oaklandside. She was previously The Oaklandside\u2019s small business reporter as a 2023-24 Poynter-Koch Media & Journalism Fellow. Before joining the team, she was an investigative intern at NBC Bay Area and the inaugural intern for the Global Investigations team of The Associated Press through a partnership with the Ida B. Wells Society for Investigative Reporting. She graduated from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo in 2022 with a bachelor\u2019s in journalism and minors in Spanish, ethnic studies, and women\u2019s & gender studies. She is a proud daughter of Filipino immigrants and was born and raised in Oxnard, California.More by Roselyn Romero<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Despite recent drops in crime, Gov. Newsom is deploying additional CHP officers throughout the Bay Area, Los Angeles, and other major regions. by\u00a0Roselyn Romero Aug. 29, 2025 (Oaklandside.org) Help us tell the Oakland stories that matter to you and your fellow Oaklanders. Yes, I want to chip in to support… Continue reading ROSELYN ROMERO<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n