The top executives at four of Oakland's largest employers are teaming up on a $10 million "security enhancement" plan to make the downtown corridor safer.
The CEO's for Blue Shield of California, The Clorox Co., Kaiser Permanente and Pacific Gas and Electric Co., announced the plan Thursday in a news release. They say it's designed to complement the efforts by city and state officials to address crime in Oakland.
Clorox has been headquartered in Oakland for 110 years while Kaiser has been based there for nearly 80 years.
"We’re energized by our collaboration with Blue Shield of California, Kaiser Permanente, PG&E and the city of Oakland to help make it safer for our collective workforce and the entire community," Clorox CEO Linda Rendle said.
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Kaiser CEO Greg Adams added: "We believe these actions are a necessary step to help improve the current downtown situation for all who work in Oakland and call Oakland home, including our employees and physicians."
“Well keeping our employees safe on their way to and from work is fundamental to us and we take that responsibility seriously very seriously given the well documented increases in crime rates particularly between 2022 and 2023 in Oakland,” said Paul Markovich, president and CEO of Blue Shield of CA.
The new security measures that launch this month and in the coming weeks are as follows:
- Creation of an Uptown/Downtown Safe Zone in partnership with the Oakland Police Department that will improve visible and responsive security in downtown areas to provide greater confidence in support of residents, visitors, employees and the local business community.
- Funding for the Oakland Uptown Downtown Community Benefit District’s Ambassador program for on-demand buddy escorts to and from local destinations, including offices, restaurants or points of interest.
- Employee safety training and subsidized transportation for employees to and from work and transit hubs, nearby parking lots and local businesses.
The measures will remain in place through 2024, with the total cost shared by the four companies.
