The reckoning with police violence in the United States over the past decade has led to policy changes that have reduced police killings, but the consequences of those changes include reduced police activity and far more murders.
The data presented contrasting what sf residents vs Oakland residents get in terms of public safety is worthy of a systemic racism lawsuit. It is so clear that the current approach is putting lives of ordinary citizens and the most vulnerable at risk to test out new policy approaches. Perhaps each citizen can be monetarily compensated for the additional risk of living in a dysfunctional city.
lots of good points here - the disparity between what Oakland crime rates this year and the rest of the US is really unfortunate.
Sometimes I see counter arguments that make the point that you can't compare Oakland to the US overall and instead, you need to look at other similar sized cities - which is a fair point.
However, Oakland still performs poorly relative to other US cities, other US cities with similar population sizes, etc. On an apples to apples basis, the conclusion is the same.
In the middle of writing a positive testimonial for this OaklandReport article it was eliminated so OR will receive only my comment that their recent article was exceptionally well written.
You posted a lot of misleading information… The actual spend on police budget has increased year over year for the entire time. That you reference. Overtime spending exceeds the annual budget substantially every year. And it is not true that we are substantially understaffed on police per per capita basis, we are right at the average for American cities overall, and with respect to California as well.
Dr J, Thanks for your comment. If you would kindly share the data and analysis behind your points, we would be grateful for others to have access to that information.
We also note, as do you, that police spending is increasing due to inflation adjustments, benefit/pension obligations, and union contracts. Minimum staffing levels are also obligated by Measure Z at 678. But this does not alter the reality that budgeted and active officer counts are declining. As cited in the article:
"Technically, the Oakland Police Department saw an increase in its overall budget, with raises for officers on the way.
Oakland’s 2021–2022 budget, for instance, spent $330 million on police, rising to $353 million in 2022–2023, $358 million in 2023–2024, and $364 million in the 2024–2025 budget.
But despite the budget increase, costs are rising in the police department, including salaries. To make up for that, the department will reduce the number of police academies, which according to Thao’s proposed budget could “result in OPD falling below the number of officers needed to address the public safety needs in Oakland.”
Oakland’s sworn police staff will shrink by 16 sworn positions to 710 in the latest budget. With various academies graduating officers, however, that number will fluctuate through June 2025. Police overtime was also cut by 15%."
The comparison of crime rate changes in Oakland vs the US average is not useful. Compare Oakland with other cities, such as New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Detroit, Dallas. Show crime rates per capita. Provide a table ranking cities by size. That way the reader can look for underlying correlations, and maybe causes.
The article refers to "police killings" without a qualifier. How would you even track a statistic that would incorporate whether they were appropriate or not?
The data presented contrasting what sf residents vs Oakland residents get in terms of public safety is worthy of a systemic racism lawsuit. It is so clear that the current approach is putting lives of ordinary citizens and the most vulnerable at risk to test out new policy approaches. Perhaps each citizen can be monetarily compensated for the additional risk of living in a dysfunctional city.
lots of good points here - the disparity between what Oakland crime rates this year and the rest of the US is really unfortunate.
Sometimes I see counter arguments that make the point that you can't compare Oakland to the US overall and instead, you need to look at other similar sized cities - which is a fair point.
However, Oakland still performs poorly relative to other US cities, other US cities with similar population sizes, etc. On an apples to apples basis, the conclusion is the same.
In the middle of writing a positive testimonial for this OaklandReport article it was eliminated so OR will receive only my comment that their recent article was exceptionally well written.
https://abc7news.com/defund-police-oakland-crime-shooting/12311750/
You posted a lot of misleading information… The actual spend on police budget has increased year over year for the entire time. That you reference. Overtime spending exceeds the annual budget substantially every year. And it is not true that we are substantially understaffed on police per per capita basis, we are right at the average for American cities overall, and with respect to California as well.
Dr J, Thanks for your comment. If you would kindly share the data and analysis behind your points, we would be grateful for others to have access to that information.
We also note, as do you, that police spending is increasing due to inflation adjustments, benefit/pension obligations, and union contracts. Minimum staffing levels are also obligated by Measure Z at 678. But this does not alter the reality that budgeted and active officer counts are declining. As cited in the article:
"Technically, the Oakland Police Department saw an increase in its overall budget, with raises for officers on the way.
Oakland’s 2021–2022 budget, for instance, spent $330 million on police, rising to $353 million in 2022–2023, $358 million in 2023–2024, and $364 million in the 2024–2025 budget.
But despite the budget increase, costs are rising in the police department, including salaries. To make up for that, the department will reduce the number of police academies, which according to Thao’s proposed budget could “result in OPD falling below the number of officers needed to address the public safety needs in Oakland.”
Oakland’s sworn police staff will shrink by 16 sworn positions to 710 in the latest budget. With various academies graduating officers, however, that number will fluctuate through June 2025. Police overtime was also cut by 15%."
Source: KQED https://www.kqed.org/news/11957562/budget-deep-dive-unpacking-oaklands-360-million-shortfall
Additional reference on Oakland Budget:
FY ’23-’25 budget data for Oakland Police Department
https://oaklandca.opengov.com/
Summarized initial budget data (before OPD headcount cuts): https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1CGoy6RBBbJ3QIdku0aR1iDoUQ45pZdNg
OPD staffing cuts approved in July 2023: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1C3n09a5cvGIcqZqe7DyCZQES-bl0-Fc1
Use of overtime is an ineffective method of providing quality personnel-hours
The comparison of crime rate changes in Oakland vs the US average is not useful. Compare Oakland with other cities, such as New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Detroit, Dallas. Show crime rates per capita. Provide a table ranking cities by size. That way the reader can look for underlying correlations, and maybe causes.
Thanks for your comment. We posted an update with the data you requested.
https://open.substack.com/pub/oaklandreport/p/additional-data-comparing-oakland
Also, please consider submitting writing with your ideas to oaklandreport@substack.com. We are volunteer run and interested in publishing your thoughts on potential causes. Please see our "About" page: https://oaklandreport.substack.com/about.
Actually, police killings in 2023 were highest in a decade. https://mappingpoliceviolence.us/
That is a meaningless statistic because it includes police killings that were appropriate
The article refers to "police killings" without a qualifier. How would you even track a statistic that would incorporate whether they were appropriate or not?
That statistic is tracked
Link? Cite?