Oakland mayor to reverse police budget cuts as violent crime surges

Oakland officials are considering expanding the city’s police force as a wave of violent crime has left 127 dead so far this year – far surpassing the 75 homicides reported in 2019.

At a news conference on Monday, Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf reported that the number of active police officers in Oakland has fallen to 677 and that her office plans on submitting a revised hiring plan to the city council which would require the city to maintain a larger police force – and which could include the establishment of another police academy, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.  

"That analysis will make the case that additional police staffing is needed in the wake of this violent spree," Schaaf said. "We know what has worked in the past…There is nothing progressive about unbridled gun violence."

Schaaf is also expected to propose a reversal of budget cuts which would effectively freeze 50 police department positions. The cuts are set to take effect next summer.  

Ultimately, the mayor believes both a stronger police force and increased social services are required in order to combat the rise in crime in Oakland.

“We in Oakland believe in a comprehensive and effective approach to ending gun violence,” Schaaf said.

“While we are not backing down whatsoever in our historic investments in prevention as well as a non-police response option called MACRO, we must address police staffing shortages and that is what we will do,” she added.

Earlier today, Oakland Police Chief LeRonne Armstrong addressed the surge in violence in an interview with ABC 7 News, noting that while a growing number of guns are seized, more continue to enter the community and fewer officers are available to respond.

"We still have the same number of investigators in our homicide division, but we have nearly double the number of homicides that we had in 2019. I think it's about our ability to regain the trust in our community so they don't believe that less police makes them safer,” he said.