Oakland adds security for First Fridays after recent violence
Oakland planned extra police, drones and help from other agencies for the June 5 First Fridays event. The changes follow May street fights that injured at least seven people after the event.
Oakland police, CHP and the Alameda County Sheriff's Department were set to focus on traffic, parking and DUI enforcement around First Fridays. OPD also planned to use drones to watch crowds after the event, when previous trouble has occurred in Uptown and nearby downtown blocks.
The city's Department of Violence Prevention planned to have staff watching for large teen gatherings organized through social media. The added response follows May brawls, a September shooting after First Fridays that injured six people several blocks away, and a March downtown bar shooting that killed two people in the hours after the event.