https://policetribune.com/oakland-p...r-city-council-defunds-police-by-18-4-million
Holly Matkin22 hours ago
Oakland, CA – The Oakland City Council has voted to defund the city’s police force by an additional $18.4 million as homicide rates continued to skyrocket.
The council voted 7-2 in favor of the massive budget cut last week, which was expected to result in the loss of as many as 50 sworn officer positions, OAN reported.
Oakland’s homicide rate surged more than 314 percent after the city voted to defund the police previously, according to OAN.
Crime has continued to spiral out of control ever since, Oakland Police Chief LeRonne Armstrong said.
He also took issue with a “city leader’s” comment about the surging crime rate being “a bump in the road – a speed bump – [and] that we would go through a period would there would be speed bumps and there would be challenges and things might not go right,” he said.
“Well for me, those ‘speed bumps’ are 65 lives so far this year,” the chief told reporters. “Whether its shootings, robberies, carjackings, sexual assaults, all of these crimes are not speed bumps. These are people.”
Meanwhile, Oakland City Council President Nikki Fortunato Bas praised the council’s successful police defunding effort.
“I think yesterday was very historic,” Fortunato Bas told KGO. “We’ll be standing up a program called MACRO for alternative crisis responders, to handle mental health issues. We will be having our department of transportation handle issues that police typically handle, blocked driveways, auto tows.”
The MACRO pilot project will use unarmed fire department civilian employees to respond to 911 calls deemed to be nonviolent, The Oaklandside reported.
The Department of Violence Prevention (DVP), which consists of civilian life coaches and “violence interrupters,” will see a 50 percent budget increase under the city council’s new plan, boosting its funding by another $52 million.
Hmmm, a department of violence prevention. Unarmed fire fighters used as violence interuptors.
Oakland Police Chief Speaks Out After City Council Defunds Police By $18.4 Million
Oakland Police Chief Speaks Out After City Council Defunds Police By $18.4 Million
Holly Matkin22 hours ago
Oakland, CA – The Oakland City Council has voted to defund the city’s police force by an additional $18.4 million as homicide rates continued to skyrocket.
The council voted 7-2 in favor of the massive budget cut last week, which was expected to result in the loss of as many as 50 sworn officer positions, OAN reported.
Oakland’s homicide rate surged more than 314 percent after the city voted to defund the police previously, according to OAN.
Crime has continued to spiral out of control ever since, Oakland Police Chief LeRonne Armstrong said.
He also took issue with a “city leader’s” comment about the surging crime rate being “a bump in the road – a speed bump – [and] that we would go through a period would there would be speed bumps and there would be challenges and things might not go right,” he said.
“Well for me, those ‘speed bumps’ are 65 lives so far this year,” the chief told reporters. “Whether its shootings, robberies, carjackings, sexual assaults, all of these crimes are not speed bumps. These are people.”
Meanwhile, Oakland City Council President Nikki Fortunato Bas praised the council’s successful police defunding effort.
“I think yesterday was very historic,” Fortunato Bas told KGO. “We’ll be standing up a program called MACRO for alternative crisis responders, to handle mental health issues. We will be having our department of transportation handle issues that police typically handle, blocked driveways, auto tows.”
The MACRO pilot project will use unarmed fire department civilian employees to respond to 911 calls deemed to be nonviolent, The Oaklandside reported.
The Department of Violence Prevention (DVP), which consists of civilian life coaches and “violence interrupters,” will see a 50 percent budget increase under the city council’s new plan, boosting its funding by another $52 million.
Hmmm, a department of violence prevention. Unarmed fire fighters used as violence interuptors.