Police
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…
Oakland is preparing to launch an 18-month pilot program that will direct some 911 calls to a team of trained civilian responders rather than to the Police Department. Mobile Assistance Community Responders of Oakland will be run by the Fire Department on a limited basis, beginning later this year or early next year, depending on how quickly personnel can be hired and trained. MACRO will respond to calls regarding such things as mental health crises and public intoxication, according to…
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.
The Oakland Police Commission announced four finalists under consideration for the role of Oakland’s next Chief of Police. The position has remained open since Chief Anne Kirkpatrick was fired by Mayor Libby Schaaf last February.
The measure represents a turning point for the Oakland Police Commission, the civilian body that oversees the Oakland Police Department.
Encrypted social media allows a broad range of people to communicate safely, from organizers of protests against police brutality to LGBTQ+ youth looking for a community to reach out to when they feel unsafe. A potential new federal law threatens to take away many of these secure methods of communication.
Mental Health First Oakland is a new alternative to calling 911 for mental health emergencies.
Commissioner Tara Anderson described the policy as “one of the most progressive use of force policies in the country.” But some advocates say the policy does not go far enough to change the department’s practices.