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Fewer Police; Chief's More Desperate Spin
While the number of police serving us on the streets of Oakland continues to fall, police Chief Tucker becomes more desperate about the numbers. His latest trick is to count any body in sight as a sworn officer.
As of Oct. 2, 2006, the department employed 691 sworn officers according to its own personnel tally. That's down from 698 on Sept. 4. Since July 2005, the number of police has stagnated below 700 except for a tiny bump in March and April of this year.
Indeed, back in March and April the historic "Enough Is Enough!" movement, including a petition signed by more than 1,100 residents, forced the city council to pretend it was addressing the problem.
The council's answer was a resolution telling the police department to recruit to 803 officers by the end of January 2007. At the time everyone could see that these words were simply a waste of ink and paper – there was no way that OPD could meet the goal with the resources provided by the council.
While military generals tell President Bush that his goals in Iraq are pure fantasy, Chief Tucker does not have the nerve to tell City Hall that the police department not only cannot meet the specified goal but is actually on the verge of collapse.
Instead, Tucker has decided to change the way he counts. An information item for the agenda of the Sept. 25 meeting of the Measure Y "oversight" committee includes a projected timeline of police officers. It shows more than 803 officers by Feb. 1, 2007. How? As a footnote reveals, "POTs and POs are shown as part of total numbers at time of hire." A POT is a police officer trainee who is still in a police academy. He or she is not a sworn officer and is not on the street.
As of Oct. 2, there were 70 police officer trainees. More than half of them started their six months of academy training in September; they will not be sworn in until March 2007, by which time some of them will have quit or washed out of the program.
In the meantime, resignations and retirements of officers on the force continue at a growing rate. Mandatory overtime, the bureaucratic and oppressive machinery put in place to meet the "Riders" settlement agreement, and chief Tucker's arbitrary management style have driven morale to a low point not seen for at least a decade.
Oakland, a city with half a police force in comparision to most major cities, needs at least 1,100 officers. Until the council commits to a solid plan to get to that number, the department only stumbles closer to collapse.
Tribune Accepts City Excuses
The headline reads, "Police fail to hit target for staffing," but the Oct. 5 story in the Oakland Tribune accepts City misstatements and excuses.
For example, the article states without criticism, "City officials have acknowledged the police department will not be fully staffed until December 2007." How long does the City get to make unfounded optimistic projections into the future without being called on it? It's like dangling a carrot in front of a donkey. Furthermore, by "fully staffed" City officials mean 802 police, not the 1,100 that Oakland needs.
The Tribune writer asserts, "The police staffing shortage was caused by a City Council-imposed, 3 1/2-year hiring freeze prompted by shortfalls in the city's budget." The freeze is a historical fact, but it is not the only cause of the shortage. Without setting a goal of at least 1,100 officers, the council tells the entire police force that they will be overworked for years to come. This message is driving officers out – at a rate of 48 or more per year, not the 36 per year reported in the Tribune article.
Nevertheless, a couple of revealing facts did slip into the article. The police academy that started last June has suffered a washout rate of 39 percent. The rate a few years ago, and the goal, is 25 percent or less.
Also reported was that robberies are up 40 percent and aggravated assaults are up 36 percent.
In addition, readers were treated to another outrageous remark from police chief Tucker. "The [hiring] goal was never going to be possible." The resolution setting the goal to be reached by the end of January 2007 was adopted last March. For chief Tucker to have kept silent then is unprofessional conduct, to say the least.
– Oct. 4, 2006; updated Oct. 5
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