A second major Oakland company has instituted new security procedures, such as providing escorts to and from BART stations, in response to growing concerns about the safety of their employees in the downtown area.
Upon arrival to the workplace from various locations such as BART stations, parking garages, restaurants, and coffee shops, representatives from Clorox—a cleaning product business that established its global headquarters in Oakland 110 years ago—announced that they had employed uniformed security officers to accompany staff.
In addition, a business statement states that managers frequently send out warnings regarding best practices and that Clorox has partnered with BART Police to provide safety awareness training for employees.
This follows a series of events, including a December email from Kaiser Permanente suggesting that employees remain in their buildings for lunch and Blue Shield’s statement that it will cover the cost of ride-hail services for Oakland employees to get to work, according to KTVU.
“We’re actively working with local business leaders to discover ways we can collaborate to make Oakland safer for our collective workforce and the broader community,” spokesmen for Clorox said in a statement.
The increased security measures are in response to a shocking 21% surge in violent crime in the city in 2023 compared to 2022. Robberies increased by 38% and burglaries by 23%. There were 120 homicides recorded in Oakland for the second year running.
The city’s murder rate has been over 100 each year since 2020, indicating that the pandemic and its distorting aftermath undid years of advancement.
There have been nine killings recorded in Oakland so far in 2024, up from eight on January 28th of the previous year. From 477 occurrences as of January 28th, 2018, to 466 occurrences this year, violent crime decreased slightly.
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