(The following is a message to the City Council from C.L., one of our members.)
Honorable Council Members:
There’s no doubt that many in Oakland badly need social and mental health services. Effective programs would doubtless reduce much of the conflict and violence in our city. So, I send these considerations not to be pro-police or anti-support services but to offer some concerns that I haven’t seen mentioned. This is long, but I urge you—please--on behalf of the city you serve, to read through it before making funding cuts.
Reducing the Oakland Police Department to anywhere close to the mandated minimum staffing will place an unimaginable strain on OPD’s officers and further slow or eliminate responses.
Many calls to OPD concern people just plain not getting along with one another. They are not major crime calls and seldom involve any serious violence. But…they could, if not stopped. These calls take a lot of time because de-escalation takes a lot of time. Several officers can be tied up on these ‘conflict’ calls for 30 minutes to an hour. Once a call is handled, officers need to write up detailed reports and download body worn camera video. This takes time.
Critical incidents—murders, felony assaults, injury/fatal accidents easily use up the time of an entire squad (6-9 officers) plus evidence and police services techs, and command staff, resulting in many beats being left open unless officers from another area can cover two beats at the same time. Critical incidents require a huge amount of report writing, which takes a lot of time.
Even with dedicated squads restored on weekends, sideshows cannot be stopped or even controlled. They now attract hundreds of people, some of whom bring—and fire--guns. The most OPD officers can hope to do is arrest one or two and tow some of the cars involved. They are one squad facing hundreds of people, who are often throwing rocks, bricks, and bottles at them.
No one knows better than patrol officers that they are not the best people to handle most mental health or homelessness crises. They welcome the shift of responsibility to professionals trained in social and mental health services, providing back up only as needed and requested. Because funding for social and mental health programs has routinely been slashed during budget crunches, law enforcement agencies have been left as the only resource available on a 24/7 basis.
Police departments around the nation are struggling to recruit qualified officers. In the years I participated on the OPD oral boards, I saw the quality drop year by year. Since everyone on the 3-person panels has to agree, I know this isn’t just my perception. Many applicants showed no particular interest in law enforcement work in general or in Oakland in particular. These applicants simply were not suited to take on the challenges of the work involved. Very few qualified people now want to enter a profession in which they’ll be blamed for things they didn’t do in cities they’ve never been to.
The Oakland Police Department, which has always had a high attrition rate, is losing officers at an alarming pace. The press reports 700 +/- “officers” when they should use the term “sworn personnel.” The Quarterly Staffing Report dated October 7, 2020, shows an authorized 792 sworn personnel, of which 733 positions were filled. Of those 733, only 574 were in the rank of officer. Of those, around 200 were assigned to patrol, the officers citizens see most often. Of those, a number were off on medical, military, admin, or family leave. Other patrol officers were “loaned” to other equally under-staffed units. So, that’s maybe 200 for 24/7 coverage of a city of around 430,000. Right now, OPD has around 700 sworn personnel, with 8 leaving this month so far, and more slated to leave next month and in August. Around 23 academy graduates, very inexperienced and facing a rapid pace and very steep learning curve, will be on the streets in late October.
Many who favor defunding OPD have expressed a desire for officers to spend more time getting to know the people of our city and to understand the challenges they face. And, many officers would love to do just that. But that takes time. Many have demanded more and better training of officers. That takes time. Officers themselves favor de-escalation. That takes time, sometimes many hours and many officers. Everyone wants to see an end to the horrific murder rate and an increase in investigations and arrests. Those things take a lot of time. If the police force is pared down any further, none of these things will be possible. Time equals money.
Police work is thankless and exhausting to body and soul. Responding to major crime scenes leaves officers spiritually depleted because, believe it or not, they care about the people in this city. They’re among the first to see someone breathe their last, to hear a family member collapse in sobs. Responding to major crimes can require significant overtime. Some work overtime because of the increased pay, but many do it because they know they’re needed—by Oaklanders and by fellow officers. All of them do it when it’s mandated by command staff.
Respectfully, C.L.
Dedicated voter and lifelong Oakland resident