The Oakland Police Department is putting more officers on the streets just as city elected leaders are trying to figure out how many fewer officers the department will be able to have in the coming fiscal year.
The department on Saturday launched what it calls its Summer Safety Plan, which will see additional units deployed to provide a greater presence and focus on certain crimes.
The move comes a little over a week after 14 people were shot and multiple police officers were assaulted during an unpermitted Juneteenth event near Lake Merritt. It also comes as the Oakland Police Officers Association has criticized Mayor Sheng Thao’s latest budget proposal calling for an additional $63 million in cuts to several departments, including the police department.
Huy Nguyen, president of the police union, said the shootings near the lake, as well as a separate shooting and a homicide that day, showed the department is stretched thin.
“If city leaders truly value public safety, we need to make serious considerations about adequately staffing the Oakland Police Department,” Nguyen said.
Police said a crowd of about 5,000 people was gathered at and around Lake Merritt and was peaceful throughout the day, until an illegal sideshow began about 8:15 p.m.
The stunt driving sparked violence among some participants, and then between participants and officers. Shots were fired as the fight escalated, while just 28 officers tried to manage the crowd and respond to injuries.
All 14 shooting victims were hospitalized with injuries that were not life-threatening. Another person was treated at the scene for injuries not related to gunshots. The officers who were allegedly pushed and punched received minor injuries, according to the police department.
The police union said the budget cuts proposed by the mayor “will drive the Oakland Police Department to historic lows in staffing levels at a time when community members and business owners are already suffering, with public safety being their number one priority.”
The mayor’s proposal has three options that call for limiting staffing to anywhere between 600 and 678 officers, according to a report to the City Council from the city’s director of finance, Erin Roseman.
That would require the City Council to pass a resolution declaring the city was facing an extreme and sudden financial emergency, in order to staff below the minimum required 678 officers mandated as part of Measure Z, implemented in 2014.
If city leaders truly value public safety, we need to make serious considerations about adequately staffing the Oakland Police Department.
Huy Nguyen, president of oakland police officers association
The ultimate number would depend on whether the sale of the Oakland Coliseum could be completed by the fall, but would likely be 678 at its highest, according to the proposals.
The department’s number of sworn officers has declined each year since 2019, when 747 officers were on the payroll at the end of the year.
In 2020, the number was down to 730, which declined to 723 in 2021, and 690 officers at the end of 2022, according to a 2023 memo from then-acting OPD Chief Darren Allison to the City Council.
Current Oakland Police Chief Floyd Mitchell told city councilmembers that there were 709 sworn officers on the department’s payroll as of Friday, and that included 84 who were on some form of paid leave, for reasons that were administrative, medical, military, or stress related.
He cautioned that any reduction in overall staffing needed to reflect those positions, meaning a cut to 600 would leave the department with only about 516 officers available.
“It is going to have a major impact” on the department’s ability “to cover patrol shifts and just provide basic services,” Mitchell said. “If we go down to 610, it is critical stage.”
He said the city would “take a hit” no matter what option the City Council chose.
Budget deficit forcing ‘tough decisions’
City Councilmember Nikki Fortunato Bas said the city’s $117 million budget deficit for the 2024-25 fiscal year required hard choices.
“These are clearly tough decisions,” Bas said during Friday’s City Council meeting. “We’re really weighing services with fiscal responsibility.”
As part of the OPD’s Summer Safety Plan, the department plans to use new strategies to share intelligence and coordinate enforcement between different divisions, such as a closer working partnership between the department’s Ceasefire Division and its Special Resources Section.
The Ceasefire Division uses partnerships between the police department, city agencies and nonprofit groups to focus on reducing gang or group-related shootings and protecting people most at-risk of being involved in such crimes. The strategy utilizes a combination of outreach, services, support, and enforcement.
The cuts being considered would still fully fund the Ceasefire Division, according to Bas.
The department’s Foot Patrol Unit will bolster its Patrol Division to provide a greater presence and faster response times in business districts. Its Vice Unit will train its focus on human trafficking in the city with undercover short- and long-term investigations.
The California Highway Patrol and the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office will also boost police presence in certain areas with high rates of collisions and crime and conduct DUI checkpoints.
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