Locals in downtown Oakland are "surprised," "sad" and "disappointed" that Kaiser Permanente warned its employees to eat inside as crime continues to hurt business across Bay Area – but the same people who raised eyebrows at the warning admit crime is an issue.
Kaiser, headquartered in the California city, issued a memo to employees shared first by FOX KTVU, urging them to stay in their buildings for lunch after a string of robberies affected employees who ate at local businesses.
Kaiser, which is Oakland’s largest employer, said in a statement that the company "is committed to ensuring the safety and security of our employees and physicians across all of our locations. We continually monitor our environments for concerns, review our practices and strengthen them wherever possible."
KAISER TELLS OAKLAND WORKERS TO STAY INSIDE, AVOID EATING OUT OF OFFICE DUE TO CRIME: REPORT
SFGATE, a local new news outlet, spoke to workers in the area and responses "alternated between bemusement and disappointment" regarding the memo.
"No one SFGATE spoke to denied that crime in the area remains an issue, but many said they don’t see Kaiser's memo as helpful in improving the neighborhood's fortunes," SFGATE reporters wrote.
Fast-food giant In-N-Out made national headlines after it recently announced it would close its Oakland location in March. A local café worker wants a larger police presence in the area.
"There’s crime everywhere, very much like other big cities," the worker told SFGATE. "The community should put more pressure on the leaders of the city for more police presence."
An Oakland-born staffer at 24 Hour Fitness "understands why people in the area have safety concerns" and said gym members have seen their cars get broken into. However, he doesn’t know if being told to stay inside is the answer.
"It’s a lot for you to ask somebody to stay inside," the worker told SFGATE. "The lunch hour is your hour to do what you want."
A local pizza shop employee said residents have "gotten so used" to crime. "It's something normal every day," he told SFGATE.
A local bartender said the lunch crowd has thinned and crime has gotten "way worse" lately, but called it "sad" that Kaiser issued such a warning.
"To have them hide away in a bubble and separate themselves from the community, it seems like a shame to me. You're in downtown Oakland, there’s gonna be some stuff," she told SFGATE.
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The Clorox Company, which has its global headquarters in Oakland, told SFGATE it’s "actively working with local business leaders to identify ways we can collaborate to make Oakland safer for our collective workforce and the entire community."
But lifelong Oakland resident Chaney Turner doesn’t believe companies like Kaiser and Clorox are doing enough.
"These people don’t care about our public safety. A company who’s been here for 100 years, you’d think they’d have more engagement with these underlying issues that are leading to the crime," Turner told SFGATE.
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Fox News Digital’s Jeffrey Clark contributed to this report.
