Ceasefire
Oakland City Council on Tuesday voted to add a fifth police academy in the next two years to recruit more officers and increase staffing, reversing a decision from three months earlier. The council approved the resolution a day after Oakland recorded its 100th homicide this year. It passed by a 6-2 vote, with Nikki Fortunato Bas and Carroll Fife voting no. In June, the council rejected the mayor’s request for six police academies over the next two years and budgeted…
While protests were cited as a key reason for high police overtime costs last year, several other factors escalated those costs.
Oakland Police Chief LeRonne L. Armstrong has established a special division to reduce violent crime.
A new study released this month suggests that Ceasefire, Oakland’s primary violent crime reduction strategy, is working.
On Friday morning, the Oakland Police Department Ceasefire Team and the FBI arrested five people and recovered weapons and drugs in a raid targeting the Ghost Town gang.
Individuals and groups work to diversify the local police force to show Oaklanders that their community is being properly represented.
Voters will be deciding this November on Measure Z, which if approved would continue a parking and parcel tax that funds public safety services and violence prevention programming.
California Assemblymember Nancy Skinner has proposed legislation that would allow for restraining orders to be placed on individuals who are deemed at risk for violent behavior with a firearm.