Clorox boosts safety measures amid rising crime in Oakland

Another large Oakland business has launched new safety measures for employees — including escorts to and from BART stations — amid rising fears of crime downtown.

Representatives of Clorox, the cleaning product manufacturer that opened its global headquarters in Oakland 110 years ago, said they have hired uniformed security guards to chaperone employees to the office from BART stations, parking garages, restaurants and coffee shops.

Additionally, Clorox now offers safety awareness training for workers in partnership with BART Police, and managers regularly send out advisories about best practices, according to a statement from the company.

It came on the heels of Blue Shield’s announcement that it will pay for ride-hail services to transport Oakland employees to work, and a memo that Kaiser Permanente disseminated in December, recommending that staff stay in their buildings for lunch, a report from KTVU stated.

“We’re actively working with local business leaders to identify ways we can collaborate to make Oakland safer for our collective workforce and the entire community,” spokespeople for Clorox said in a statement.

The heightened precautions follow a staggering 21% increase in violent crime last year, with robberies up 38% and burglaries climbing 23% citywide, compared with 2022.

For the second consecutive year, Oakland logged 120 homicides.

Since 2020, the city has exceeded 100 slayings each year, a sign that the pandemic — and its warping aftereffects — unraveled years of progress.

Already in 2024 Oakland has logged nine homicides, up from eight as of Jan. 28 last year. Violent crime dipped marginally, from 477 incidents last year as of Jan. 28, to 466 this year.