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Lock-picking class promoted by Oakland mayor creates stir

A new class promoted by the mayor of Oakland, California has some residents shaking their heads, CBS San Francisco reports.

How to pick locks, an educational offering recently featured in Mayor Jean Quan's newsletter, is geared toward residents who have misplaced their keys. But that didn't go over well with readers in the crime-riddled city, according to an article in the Oakland Times.

"How could she do possibly do that in this climate," one reader responded. "What's next? The fundamentals of armed robbery."

Another Oakland resident posted a letter addressed to Quan asking that the class be canceled.

The class topic could raise eyebrows anywhere, but seems particularly tone deaf in Oakland where just last month, a string of four fatal shootings led the city's vice mayor to call for a state of emergency.

In a written statement Wednesday, Mayor Quan acknowledged that the listing struck a bad chord in a city struggling with crime.

"I've heard from people who are upset about the lock picking class item," she wrote. "I understand their reaction and I apologize."

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