The Oakland Mayor is looking to reverse plans of diverting funding from the police department to social services.
Mayor Libby Schaff announced yesterday that she will push to reverse planned cuts and try to quickly hire more officers. This comes amid a recent spike in violent crime and homicides in the city, including three people killed, one a retired police officer acting as a security guard for a television news crew, bringing the number of homicides to 127 so far this year. To address the violence, Schaaf said she'll ask the city council to reverse funding cuts scheduled to take effect next year, though she still supports diversion efforts.
“When those messages and services are not effective … the consequences must be swift and certain," Schaaf told reporters Monday on a Zoom call. “There is nothing progressive about unbridled gun violence.” Schaaf said efforts to shift lower-level policing to other departments and efforts aimed at diverting those convicted to other services have not been enough.
From New York City to Los Angeles — in cities that had some of the largest Black Lives Matter protests, and some with an extensive history of police brutality — police departments are seeing their finances partially restored in response to rising homicides, an officer exodus and political pressures.