Does Retail make Emerville a Target for Criminals?

Retail has been a blessing for Emeryville’s tax base … but at what cost? A recent  2011  FBI uniform crime report lists Emeryville as having the Bay Area’s highest violent crime rate ahead of cities with violent crime reputations like Oakland and Richmond. In fact, my own experience with crime led me to pursue this blog. Is this label justified or are these numbers misleading? The issue is a complicated one for sure. Perhaps the fact that people actually report “smaller” crimes has bloated this figure (there are some areas where people don’t even bother reporting crimes because they know that no action will be taken)? I hope that by asking this question it leads to a larger discusion of the safety within our community in what appears to be a growing problem. Are there other explanations for this unfavorable ranking? What do you think?

I conducted a ten question email interview with Emeryville Police Department Crime Analyst Adrienne Robinson on how the EPD views this and what we as residents can do:

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Emeryville police seeking kidnapping suspect

Bashar Aremu is a suspect in an attempted kidnapping on March 14.

Emeryville police have identified a man who they believe kidnapped a woman in a parking garage in the 2100 block of Powell Street (near the Hilton Garden Hotel) Wednesday night, forcing her into the trunk of her own car before she managed to escape.

Investigators have a warrant for the arrest of Bashar Aremu, 30, and are asking for the public’s help to find him. They say he is 6 feet tall, 230 pounds, speaks with an accent, and might be working as a security guard.

Police say Aremu might also have been responsible for a March 10 robbery of a woman in a nearby business, who reported a gunman grabbed her by the throat, demanded money and then forced her to disrobe and lie on the ground in the back of the store.

If you see Aremu do not approach him, call 911 immediately. If you have information regarding the above incidents contact Detective Eric White at (510) 596-3734.
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