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Oakland’s largest employers tell employees to eat lunch on-site due to surging crime

January 29, 2024 | | Print Article

Blue Cross/Blue Shield and Kaiser Permanente are advising employees to eat lunch inside at work and avoid leaving the premises due to rampant violent crime engulfing Oakland.

Kaiser Permanente is the largest private employer in the California city, according to the Daily Mail. Blue Cross/Blue Shield is huge as well. Both companies are also providing security to walk employees to and from their vehicles and are arranging for rides for workers.

Oakland and San Francisco are experiencing a massive surge in crime and homelessness purportedly due to leftist policies being put in place that cater more to criminals than victims.

Ironically, Blue Cross/Blue Shield relocated its headquarters from San Francisco to Oakland in 2019. The Daily Mail reported that the company encourages workers to come into the physical office at least twice a month. Executives are expected to come in once a week.

(Video Credit: KPIX | CBS NEWS BAY AREA)

Kaiser Permanente issued a memo to its employees advising them to stay in the building during lunch and throughout the work day. They are being told to bring their lunch or have it delivered. Several employees have been assaulted in their cars. Vehicles have reportedly been set on fire or stolen and some employees have been robbed. A lot of the attacks take place in broad daylight. A number of employees have reportedly installed kill switches to prevent their cars from being stolen.

The memo also warned against out-of-town workers holding meetings in downtown Oakland.

“It’s just kind of scary in general, not even just to go to work, just kind of coming outside,” Arielle Crenshaw told Fox 2 in an interview.

“If you can work at home, work at home. If you have to come in, just be safe about it,” Kaiser Permanente advised workers.

“In response to the current crime environment affecting all businesses and the entire community of Oakland, as well as other communities across the country, we continue to provide guidance to keep employees as safe as possible,” the company asserted in a statement.

The move by the mega-employers has incensed food businesses downtown.

“It is a little upsetting to hear that you know, because everyone’s trying to thrive, everyone’s trying to make business. It is pretty slow as it is,” Mauricio Torres, who owns Molcajete Cocina Mexicana, claimed according to Fox 2.

“I don’t think you want to discourage people from walking around and kind of give in to the bad elements that are running around. I think quite the opposite: I think that if there are more people on the streets, there will be less incidents,” Emil Wahbeh, who owns Aroma Cafe, also told the outlet.

Crime in Oakland jumped 21 percent in 2023, according to Daily Mail. Robberies increased by 38 percent and burglaries rose by 23 percent. For the second year in a row, there have been 120 murders in Oakland. Car thefts are up 44 percent.

Meanwhile, Mayor Sheng Thao is making the less-than-credible claim that Oakland is making progress when it comes to crime downtown.

In a statement given to Fox 2, Mayor Sheng Thao’s office commented, “Oakland is making progress in addressing community safety in our business districts where many of Kaiser’s facilities are located. There are more police officers and safety ambassadors on the street than at any time in the past two years. At the end of last year, Oakland experienced significant reductions in property crime in business districts across the city. Oakland will remain vigilant and work collaboratively to ensure this downward trend continues and that more resources are brought to the table.”

It is unclear if the directives from Kaiser Permanente and Blue Cross/Blue Shield are permanent or not.

Businesses such as In-N-Out Burger are closing up shop in Oakland and fleeing due to the out-of-control crime.

“Downtown looks like a ghost town. So it’s very disheartening,” Robert Mendez, who was born in Oakland, told CBS News. “It’s like the city has fallen off a cliff.”

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