Bay Area

Community safety message about Carjackings

The Berkeley Police Department has noticed a trend of carjackings occurring in Berkeley. Carjackings are a form of robbery where a suspect takes a victim’s vehicle by force or fear. In 2022, there were 15 reported carjackings total. So far this year, we have already had 6 reported carjackings.

Published

2 years ago

March 6, 2023

Oakland Post

The Berkeley Police Department has noticed a trend of carjackings occurring in Berkeley.

The Berkeley Police Department has noticed a trend of carjackings occurring in Berkeley.

The majority of the carjackings have occurred in the evenings or early morning hours. In most of the cases, the people who have been carjacked have been threatened with knives or guns.

While we work to arrest the persons responsible for the carjackings, we encourage the public to take the following precautions.

When selecting a place to park, find the most well-lit and well-travelled parking space.
When returning to your vehicle, have your belongings situated in such a way that you can quickly get in your vehicle, lock the door, and drive away.
Remain alert and aware of your surroundings.
If you are meeting someone for an exchange, consider making the exchange at safe-exchange site or in a well-lit well-travelled location.
If you see something suspicious, do not hesitate to report it.
If you do become a victim of a carjacking, report the crime as soon as possible.
You may also want to consider adding a way to track your vehicle—such as a LoJack-style system or Airtag-style device hidden inside the vehicle.

Keep up with City of Berkeley news via our news page, email, or on Twitter @cityofberkeley

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Chevron Richmond Installs Baker Hughes Flare.IQ, Real-time Flare Monitoring, Control and Reduction System

While the sight of flaring can cause concern in the community, flares are essential safety systems that burn pollutants to prevent them from being released directly into the atmosphere. They activate during startup and shut-down of facility units or during upsets or equipment malfunctions. The typical flare stack is about 200 feet high so that vapors are well above street levels.

Published

3 weeks ago

May 19, 2025

Oakland Post

Image courtesy The Richmond Standard.

The Richmond Standard

Chevron Richmond recently installed flare.IQ, a real-time, automated system that will improve the facility’s flaring performance.

The technology, developed by Panametrics, a Baker Hughes business, uses sensors to monitor, reduce and control flaring in real time. It collects and assesses data on refinery processes, such as temperature, pressure, gas flow and gas composition, and adjusts accordingly to ensure flares burn more efficiently and cleanly, leading to fewer emissions.

“The cleaner the flare, the brighter the flame can look,” said Duy Nguyen, a Chevron Richmond flaring specialist. “If you see a brighter flame than usual on a flare, that actually means flare.IQ is operating as intended.”

“A key element in Baker Hughes’ emissions abatement portfolio, flare.IQ has a proven track record in optimizing flare operations and significantly reducing emissions,” said Colin Hehir, vice president of Panametrics, a Baker Hughes business. “By partnering with Chevron Richmond, one of the first operators in North America to adopt flare.IQ, we are looking forward to enhancing the plant’s flaring operations.”

The installation of flare.IQ is part of a broader and ongoing effort by Chevron Richmond to improve flare performance, particularly in response to increased events after the new, more efficient hydrogen plant was brought online in 2019.

Since then, the company has invested $25 million — and counting — into flare minimization. As part of the effort, a multidisciplinary refinery team was formed to find and implement ways to improve operational reliability and ultimately reduce flaring. Operators and other employees involved in management of flares and flare gas recovery systems undergo new training.

“It is important to me that the community knows we are working hard to lower emissions and improve our flaring performance,” Nguyen said.

Also evolving is the process by which community members are notified of flaring incidents. The Community Warning System (CWS), operated by Contra Costa County is an “all-hazard” public warning system.

Residents can opt-in to receive alerts via text, e-mail and landline. The CWS was recently expanded to enable residents to receive notifications for “Level 1” incidents, which are considered informational as they do not require any community action.

For more information related to these topics, check out the resources included on the Chevron Richmond, CAER and Contra Costa Health websites. Residents are also encouraged to follow @chevronrichmond and @RFDCAOnline on Facebook and X (formerly Twitter), where additional information may be posted during an incident.