Oakland Police Department Cancels Social Media Auto Theft Program

Just one day after marketing a pilot program that used social media to report car burglaries, Oakland Police Department abruptly shut the program down. The police department wrote on social media that the program was always intended to be “limited” saying, “The test concluded as scheduled and the accounts were deactivated as planned.” The account will be reactivated before their next test, they added. The pilot program used the account handle @OaklandAutoBurg on Instagram and X and urged members of the public to DM details about individuals, vehicles and location. Oakland has been experiencing a 36 percent increase in the number of auto burglaries this year compared to the same time last year.