Hancock’s spokesman acknowledged that some studies have shown that high numbers of liquor stores drive up instances of crime, petty theft and drunk driving. “In the case of Oakland, Richmond and Berkeley, the market is oversaturated, so the cost to issue another liquor license far outweighs any immediate benefit the city might accrue in terms of fees, because they are going to be paying for it. The immediate amount of money you might gain from fees doesn’t mitigate the costs that you are creating.”

But Jacob Greafer, criminologist and city planner, disagrees with the liquor-crime connection; he believes liquor stores are fairly distributed in West Oakland. “The number of crimes in West Oakland has nothing to do with the number of liquor stores,” he said. Crimes happen in or around the liquor stores. Just as they do anywhere else.

“As far as criminal activities around liquor stores, you have to remember these are the places in the community that people hang out," he said in a phone interview. “That’s why the crimes usually happen in front [of] or near liquor stores. When we are talking about crime, we are talking about people who drink in public, selling drugs or the other things.”

City Attorney John Russo believes this is a problem. In his report, “The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly,” Russo found that the majority of Oakland liquor stores cited for selling to minors and distributing drug paraphernalia were in West Oakland. In his introduction to the report, he states, “West Oakland has too many liquor stores.”

Assembly member Loni Hancock, D-Berkeley, is hoping to close that loophole with legislation that aims to limit liquor stores in overly concentrated or high crime areas. A hearing on the bill is scheduled for December 17th.

“It’s a big step in the right direction so we can get rid of some of the problem liquor stores,” said Hancock aide Armando Viramontes. According to Viramontes, city officials and community-organizing groups are strong supporters of this bill. “The Police Department is going to testify at the hearing and I imagine they will be supportive,” he said.

But if Hancock’s goal is crime reduction, liquor-law legislation might not be the best path.

West Oakland, the area between downtown and the Bay, partially surrounded by the Oakland Point and encompassing the Port of Oakland, was not supposed to be overrun with liquor stores. Thirty years ago, grocery stores and family-owned shops simply sold liquor along with food and other goods.

But over time, many of these stores converted to selling almost only alcohol. To complicate matters, a 1995 state law aimed at helping cities boost commerce allowed Alameda County planning officials to approve liquor licenses, even if police, communities or state regulators objected.
 
The result, according to Joe Robiolard, former head of the Alcohol Beverage Control Center in Oakland, is that the ratio of liquor licenses to residents in West Oakland exceeds the 1-to-2,500 countywide standard.

“There are many exemptions that allow this to happen,” said Robiolard, now Chief of Professional Standards, in Alcohol Control's state headquarters.

“There are [few] licenses in the east side of Alameda County, which allows more to be grouped together in another area.”

Robiolard said he believes counting the licenses by county allows for a disproportionate number of liquor stores in some communities such as West Oakland.

 There are other loopholes that allow liquor stores to become licensed in West Oakland. In most counties, Alcohol Control can deny a licensee if the community has 'high crime,' or 20 percent more crime than the state average. In Alameda County, as a result of the 1995 legislation, City Planning can grant a license if it determines the establishment will provide a needed economic boost to the community, regardless of protests from the Oakland Police Department or ABC.

In order to control the number of liquor stores in Oakland and West Oakland, in particular, Hancock's bill will allow cities to target liquor stores that have experienced problems and are either within 200 feet of a school, or are in areas already flooded with licenses.  The bill stipulates that stores located in a district with 20 percent more crime than the city average must be closed down.

**Cities or counties electing to close stores must provide a grace period based on the original cost of the premises, depreciation value, its remaining use life, the length and remaining term of any lease and the harm to the public if the stores stays open. 

“If the bill becomes law, it will allow a lot of cities to remove grandfathered-in liquor stores in the City of Oakland,” Virmontes added. “Under current law, licenses aren’t supposed to expand in a particular area, but all liquor stores were grandfathered-in when that law passed.

“By rights, Oakland should have only 11 liquor stores per neighborhood, but they actually have 14 to 20," said Virmontes.