The Guns are Out of Control

And I'm not the only one saying this; read Chip Johnson's column today and for the last few weeks.

I'm not sure what appalls me more about this last weekend: the fact that 11 people were shot in 4 days (4 of them died), or the city's stumbling response to it.  This morning in the S.F. Chronicle, Chief Jordan made the following claims, which summarize what he's said for the last couple of days:  this is a feud between two gangs; it started last August when someone's girlfriend was killed; 90% of the "killings, robberies, shootings" over the last 5 months stem from this one incident.

You killed my girlfriend, so I'm going to rob this pedestrian?  What? And is this incident also responsible for assaults in North Oakland?  A man, his son, and the son's nanny were assaulted on December 9 at Carlton and Broadway Terrace, and this is in revenge for a shooting last August in Deep East?  Give me a break. Besides, if they know what's going on, why haven't they acted?  Where are the arrests?  Where are the charges from the D.A.?  If the police are arresting people from these gangs, why don't we hear about it?

I'm even more disturbed when the article says they had a "call-in," as part of Operation Ceasefire, on October 18.  That's two and a half months ago, and the shooting goes on.  I'm not an expert on Operation Ceasefire, but I've attended a couple of presentations on it, I've read it up on the web, and I know how it's supposed to work.  You're supposed to bring someone to a call-in when you have the evidence against them to convict them of something.  You must not bluff.  If you bluff you lose your entire edge in this.  The fact that they had a call-in in October, but we've had no announcement that anyone had been arrested and charged for any shootings, means the city and the police department are bluffing. They will lose at that, and the city will lose, and we will all lose.