For years now, Oakland Police and the Oakland Mayor's Office haven't been able to come up with a solution (much less work together like adults) on the city's glaring crime problem. In 2012, Oakland won the dishonor of being the third most dangerous city in the U.S., trailing behind St. Louis and Detroit. Yikes. Egads. And Chronicle columnist Chip Johnson has reasonably asked for the impending drones to make Oakland flyovers.

See, the Alameda County Sheriff's Office will get their hands on a drone to help with crowd control, search-and-rescues, and other crime-preventing duties that would be greatly assisted by an unmanned set of eyes high in the sky. Enter the tinfoil hat-sporting Berkeley Peace and Justice Commission who, naturally, proposed a "No Drone Zone" in Berkeley airspace "for all but hobbyists." (Enter eye roll.) But Johnson, an Oakland resident, says that a drone might help put a dent, however minor, in his city's massive crime problem.

As an Oakland resident, I'd like to propose that all future law enforcement drone flyovers planned for Berkeley instead be rerouted here. We need all the help we can get.

In Oakland, residents are concerned that there aren't enough law enforcement eyes to watch out for them. We already use technology to help detect and trace gunfire. We're endeavoring to make downtown Oakland a place with more cameras perched on building ledges than pigeons. The city has a program to aid private businesses to install their own systems.

The truth is that personal privacy was breached by modern technology nearly 20 years ago, and there's no going back.

There's little you can't see for yourself online, and if nudity advocates in Berkeley and San Francisco had their way over the years, there would be little you couldn't see just walking down the street.

Meanwhile, in boring San Francisco, police have no plans on putting drones in the sky. Bah.

[Chron]