Oakland First Fridays Art Murmur is on this Friday, June 5, 5–9:30 p.m. along Telegraph Avenue — with OPD, CHP, BART Police, drones, and the Department of Violence Prevention all deployed under a new city safety plan.

Oakland First Fridays Art Murmur is happening this Friday, June 5, 5:00 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., along Telegraph Avenue between West Grand and 27th Street — and the city is sending OPD, California Highway Patrol, BART Police, and Department of Violence Prevention staff to the event corridor.

A City of Oakland press release confirms enhanced OPD staffing through early Saturday morning, OPD drones overhead for crowd monitoring, and MACRO behavioral health staff on the ground. Mayor Barbara Lee said in the release: "We will not tolerate violence in our downtown districts during and after our celebrated First Friday events — or anytime, anywhere."

Expect road closures: no westbound traffic at 16th Street/Telegraph and 19th Street/Broadway; no eastbound traffic at 17th Street/San Pablo and 17th Street/Telegraph. Strict no-parking enforcement — citations and towing — covers Broadway and Telegraph from 15th to 20th Streets. The city recommends BART, AC Transit, or rideshare; if you drive, Franklin Plaza Garage is open until 1 a.m.

The event's director told NBC Bay Area she thinks the city arrived "a little late to the game — a lot of the damage, at least to our event, has already been done." No special theme is scheduled for June; the "Oakland Rides & Town Vibes + Youth Fest" edition comes in August.

Free to attend, no RSVP. 19th Street BART is two blocks from the event corridor.