Mayor of De-Policed City: "Recall me"

(Photo: Lea Suzuki)

"I'm giving it [the problem of violence] everything I have. If that's not enough, recall me and let me get on with my private life," said Oakland mayor Ron Dellums. He went on to deny the need for more officers in a city with half a police department. "I don't believe the residents support the idea of a huge increase in the police force," he said. "Measure Y was passed to accommodate those needs." (San Francisco Chronicle, Sept. 21, 2007)

Mayor Dellums made the above remarks to Chip Johnson, columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle. Two weeks later, Johnson reported, "His answer so intrigued me that I've asked dozens of people about it – citizens, businesspeople, friends, family members, everyone I could think of. So far, I've not found one person who agrees with him." (San Francisco Chronicle, Oct. 5, 2007)

Attempting to follow up, columnist Johnson found that Dellums was out of town again. However, the mayor's new chief of staff told Johnson that the mayor is not opposed to a discussion about police staffing and would be open to solutions that would help close the gap.

Oakland has 728 police officers as of Oct. 1. Most major cities have twice that number, comparing on a population basis. Columnist Johnson echoes the minimum demand of the growing movement for peaceful neighborhoods when he states, "Oakland would need 400 more officers just to be able to patrol the streets and have the resources to respond to calls for service." A total of at least 1,100 officers is still less than most major cities, but it would make a substantial difference in changing the balance on the streets between the police and the thugs.

The City budget has the money for 1,100 police. It is a matter of priorities, and what is the first job of municipal government if not maintaining the police force? So we will need more than "a discussion" about another fiasco in the style of Measure Y to "help close the gap."

Reader's Comment

Applicants are not running to Oakland to become officers. Crime began to really escalate after the jail closure. The jail was closed to cut a deficit in the budget, but now OPD arrests fewer and pays more to the Alameda County Sheriff's Office, which lets them out as fast as they bring them in. So why arrest? Get signatures to bring back the crime lab, jail and task forces that were lost.