Hip-Hop pioneer Too Short joined the Oakland Police Department and Mayor Ron Dellums in a special community event Wednesday (Aug 13) aiming to end a recent rise in violent crimes across the city.
The “Silence The Violence” event brought together community activists and city officials who addressed resident’s concerns, heightened by two West Oakland shootouts on Wednesday.
One of the incidents, an early morning shoot out described by police as reminiscent of the Wild West, left three people injured and over 100 bullet casings from automatic weapons on the streets of one neighborhood.
Too Short saw the opportunity to participate in the “Silence the Violence” event as his responsibility as an adult to provide guidance for the city’s youth.
“Counsel them,” the Bay Area vet told local Fox affiliate KTVU-TV. “Talk to them and you tell them [like] I tell them, ‘Guess what you can do?’ And give them a direction. That’s all they want.”
The community rally, which also included a job fair, is just one of several joint efforts between the police department and the mayor’s office to deter crime in the city and encourage community policing to support local law enforcement.
The city of Oakland currently has the largest number of police officers it has had in the last two decades.
