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Several cities in the East Bay reported upticks in the number of violent crimes committed in the past year.
While Hayward and Oakland were among the Alameda County communities that saw an increase in homicides last year, Berkeley and San Leandro reported none. In fact, Berkeley and Fremont both reported drops in overall crime, while Oakland reported a 15 percent increase in overall crime in 2019, according to year-end stats released by the cities’ police departments.
Some communities in Contra Costa County, including Antioch, Orinda and Pittsburg, also reported increases in homicides. Others, such as Richmond, reported the same total year over year, which amounts to a spike in homicides in that city from an all-time low of 10 in 2017.
In both counties, violent crimes on BART crime increasingly became a problem in 2019. An Alameda County grand jury report released in June that found crime on BART trains and at stations has risen 115 percent over the past five years.
Police chiefs in Oakland and Richmond both attribute the rises in crimes reported to a number of factors.
CLICK HERE to read the full report on 2019 East Bay crime trends.
