At a recent Fruitvale Unity/Combined Neighborhood Crime Prevention Council meeting, Oakland’s City Attorney, John Russo, gave a rich speech ringing with sound bites regarding the prostitution problem on International Boulevard.

On Dec. 21, three motels with a reputation for allowing prostitution - Economy Inn, National Lodge and Sage Motel on MacArthur - had lawsuits brought against them.

“Our goal is to clean them up, or shut them down,” has said on the matter. The Red Light Abatement Act a law, passed in 1913, holds property owners liable for prostitution that goes on inside.

However, what was missing from the speech against prostitution and human trafficking is what the implications will be in the community to fine and shut down three businesses for a year. No real solution to the demand and subsequent supply of sex trade seems to be discussed, just the political party line of moving it on down the block. 

The next issue discussed was the ever polarizing gang injunction against the Nortenos. According to the fact sheet passed out at the Jan. 19 meeting, the gang has been involved in at least 35 shootings this year alone. The injunction will be served to 40 adult members of the gang who have have convictions of assault with a deadly weapon, position of an assault weapon, drug sales as well as self-defined addition of membership of the gang. No one under the age of 18 is included in the injunction.

Any gang member can go through an “opt out” where if he is proven to hold down a job and be a supporting member of the community he can apply to be removed from the injunction. 

The next Combined Neighborhood Crime Prevention Council meeting will be held Feb. 16 at the Fruitvale Senior center.

Read Oakland Local's coverage of sex trafficking in our city here

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About Mariah Carle