In the two and half years before a deadly warehouse fire killed 36 people, Oakland police made regular visits to the Ghost Ship artists’ collective. They investigated an illegal rave, a pistol-whipping incident, thefts, reports of child abuse, a stabbing, threats with guns, drug sales, illegal housing, storing stolen property, allegations of rape, even reports of people barricaded inside.
Records released Wednesday show that police visited the building and associated properties 35 times between mid-2014 and the Dec. 2 fire. Yet never did officers take action to shutter the dangerously cluttered, illegally converted warehouse — or make referrals to other city departments empowered to shut it down.