Another spate of armed robberies in Berkeley

January 6, 2011 12:30 pm by Frances Dinkelspiel

There were five gun-related robberies in Berkeley between Dec 27 and Jan 1. Photo: Tanya Miller.

On Thursday Dec. 30, around 8:30 pm, two Berkeley teenagers were walking along The Alameda near Hopkins Street when two men stopped them to ask for directions.

Suddenly, one of the men pulled out a gun and demanded that the teens hand over their property. The teens complied, and the robbers took off with two cell phones, a wallet, keys and an iPod.

The robbery was just one of five gun-related robberies that happened in Berkeley from Dec. 27 to Jan. 1, according to Sgt. Mary Kusmiss of the Berkeley police department.

In December, there were 35 robberies in Berkeley, some done with guns and some without.

The recent spate of armed robberies has left Berkeley residents feeling nervous, as evidenced by recent comments on Berkeleyside. But the city’s crime rate has not gone up, according to Sgt. Kusmiss

In December 2009, there were 33 robberies in Berkeley, compared to 35 in 2010. In November 2010, there were 36 robberies, compared to 37 in November 2009. And in October 2010 there were 35 robberies compared to 43 in October 2009, according to Kusmiss.

In mid-December, Berkeley police arrested the people they believe were responsible for a number of robberies in North Berkeley.

Sgt. Kusmiss said the police department is always concerned when the community does not feel safe.

“We think the perception of crime is just as important as whether there has been an increase or not,” she said.

One reason people may think Berkeley is becoming more dangerous is because of the wealth of information now available on the Internert, said Sgt. Kusmiss. There is broader reporting of crime on sites like Berkeleyside, Spotcrime.com, Crimelog.org,  and in neighborhood email newsletters.

“What happened is you educate and inform but you may create a perception that there is more crime because there is more information.”

11 Comments

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  • Lauren

    How about a description and a vehicle type so we are informed…this is just like sf gate if your not going to give a description don’t run the article what good does it do besides just make everyone paranoid.

  • CJ Higley

    Thanks to Berkeleyside for bringing (and keeping) these types of crimes to the forefront. Maybe with greater awareness there will be greater willingness to actually do something about it — like pick up the phone and call the police when you see something suspicious going on in your neighborhood. Personally, I find it deeply troubling that armed robbery occurs in our community on a routine basis! I understand we live in a dense urban environment, but that shouldn’t mean we must accept this level of violence as part of our way of life.

  • ladypants

    I wish the Police department would include more details, if there are any. It would also be helpful to know what’s going on in neighboring communities – in this case, Albany has also had it’s fair share of robberies over the past month. Let’s hope police departments are working together to solve these crimes. Just as importantly, make residents and businesses aware.

  • Ephemerol*29

    >>But the city’s crime rate has not gone up, according to Sgt. Kusmiss >> This woman needs to get out of her concrete and well fortified bubble there and try walking to the store at night without her service weapon and to *Stop* cooking the crime stats as is common with most departments across the country. My neighbor here in N. Berkeley was surrounded by black teens and he fended them off with a weapon he carries in his pocket. Once they heard the ‘click’ they backed off. Again, many armed robberies, assaults and burglaries are *never* called into the police department for a wide variety of reasons.

  • Dan Alpert

    I received a neighborhood alert about the robbery on The Alameda and was frustrated that it gave no description, other than that the perpetrators wore “hoodies”. I could be wrong, but I think this was supposed to be code for “black”. Why play such games? I want any information that could assist me in recognizing the perpetrators — age, gender, attire, height, weight, ethnicity, distinguishing fetaures of any type. I happen to be Jewish, and believe me if the perpetrator was wearing a yarmulke, I want to know — it’s not prejudice, it’s a description!

  • laura menard

    Berkeleyside:

    please narrow down two stats, use of weapons and/or violence during robberies.

    Sure Berkeley has always been a high target zone for robberies, and only in the last few years has the local press covered crime sufficiently that folks are finally taking notice and admitting the high crime rate in Berkeley is a problem. Sgt. Kusmiss is a Berkeley resident, she would agree.

  • Bob

    Berkeley PD used to publish their daily crime log in PDF format, but for some reason took that offline. Now the only information reported is from the sites mentioned, which if you’ve ever seen the old report this is clearly a very small fraction of the actual daily activity.

    I wish BPD would start publishing the real data again, it was much more informative.

  • Bob

    For example, UCPD still reports on daily activity, must as BPD did:

    http://police.berkeley.edu/bulletins/index.html

    You have to navigate some of the shorthand, acronyms and penal code references but the suspect descriptions are to the point (e.g. BM-25) not some gender- and ethnicity-sanitized “individual in dark hoodie”.

    also, relevant article:

    http://www.dailycal.org/article/111351/berkeley_police_fails_to_report_timely_crime_data

    I suspect the overall poor condition of the Berkeley web site is just the sad reality of the cutbacks in services. It’s too bad though, because it should be way to gain some leverage and efficiency.

  • David L

    Does the Berkeley Police Department ever stop and frisk suspicious people for guns? Or, has the time honored public safety practice of confiscating illegal firearms been eliminated to prevent claims of police profiling and discrimination?

  • Ephemerol*29

    @David L
    Does the Berkeley Police Department ever stop and frisk suspicious people for guns? Or, has the time honored public safety practice of confiscating illegal firearms been eliminated to prevent claims of police profiling and discrimination?

    I have often wondered if, how or why a local PD officer could indeed stop and search an individual, almost always a black teen, strutting into our neighborhood with an intimidating, arrogant and hostile “Out of my way” attitude in broad daylight with his hand deep into one pocket simulating a “gun”. Would they stop, search or even tackle this very same individual if president Obama was talking to a small crowd of locals here and he approached. I highly suspect so. So what is the difference in this equation of probable cause and imminent threat. Does this not all equate to clear intent to use such weapon whether real or not?

  • Rhoda

    This information is important, but insufficient to be helpful. What have the police done to find the perpetrators and how do they look? The public needs to be informed of practical information that is usable.