'I can't take it anymore': CNN reporter exposes just how bad the violent crime surge in Oakland has become

As Oakland experiences a surge in violent crime, city residents are reportedly being asked to alert neighbors to crimes in progress using air horns.

CNN reporter Kyung Lah recently traveled to the crime-laden city where "brazen assaults and robberies in broad daylight, break-ins, and home invasions" have become the norm. Race and income make no difference, she said, because "everyone seems to be a target."

Crime statistics indeed show that while murders in Oakland are down, crimes such as robberies, burglaries, and even rape are up by double-digit percentages.

The surge has forced some lifelong Oakland residents, like Kristin Cook, to leave her hometown.

"I love Oakland. It's very hard for me and my son, especially my son," Cook told Lah. "I can't take it anymore. I got to the point [where] I was too scared to leave my house."

Other residents who spoke with Lah were optimistic.

Toni Bird, for example, is hopeful the crime surge will eventually dissipate. But until then, she is abiding by recommendations handed down by Oakland police: installing steel braces on her doors and using air horns to alert neighbors to ongoing danger.

"The idea is if you set it off, your neighbor would hear it, set theirs off. And more people are alert that there's danger," she told Lah of the air horns.

Astonishingly, Lah met with a business owner, Laurel Ace Hardware owner Troy Welch, who had been robbed just hours before Lah arrived for their interview. He told the CNN reporter it took 45 minutes for police to respond.

"Is that typical?" Lah asked.

"That's probably fast," Welch responded.

Ironically, Lah herself became a victim of the crime surge. Last week, she revealed her car was targeted in a smash-and-grab while reporting in Oakland.

The report comes after the Oakland NAACP and city residents blasted Oakland's George Soros-backed district attorney, Pamela Price, over the city's rampant crime problem. The Oakland NAACP even called for a state of emergency to address the city's "failed leadership" and Price's policies.

The DA's office, however, responded by attacking those speaking out.

"We are disappointed that a great African-American pastor and a great African-American organization would take a false narrative on such an important matter," the office said.

Price, who is facing a recall, previously claimed that "the DA's role has really no impact on crime."

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