The Carnage of a City : Oakland mayor offers bold, if controversial, anti-violence plan

Responding to what he calls a siege from crime, Oakland Mayor Elihu Harris has outlined a program that includes provisions ranging from the benign (increased job training) to the Draconian (mandatory jail sentences for parents of juveniles who use guns).

Harris is hardly a reactionary. He was a liberal Democratic member of the state Assembly for 12 years. The fact that a man with a civil-liberties slant would propose such measures speaks to the desperation that he feels in the face of escalating violent crime. Oakland has the dubious distinction of having the highest big-city murder rate in the state. Los Angeles isn’t far behind. At least Harris is outraged enough to come forward with a plan for discussion and possible implementation.

To be sure, some of Harris’ proposals raise serious constitutional questions. For instance, jailing parents of juveniles who use firearms would no doubt face legal challenge.

Other proposals, such as the one to allow only registered gun owners to buy ammunition, may make sense but also may conflict with existing law.

Still, a proposal that anyone accused of assaulting a family member be arrested, even if the victim declines to press charges, deserves careful consideration. Also worthy of full discussion is the mayor’s plan to provide job training and recreational and social services in the city’s largest housing project, where the gang culture has ravaged thousands. Of course, money to fund such a program would be scarce.

We in Los Angeles understand. Tuesday’s drive-by shooting of three teen-agers and a 4-year-old in Koreatown and the death of a Dorsey High School athlete who apparently shot himself are only the latest in a no-end-in-sight string of shootings here. No sooner has the blood dried in one incident before it spills in another. Where is the outrage? Where is the action?