Police Staffing Since Measure Y Began

(Source: OPD personnel reports)      

The City began collecting Measure Y taxes on Jan. 1, 2005. For the first year it ignored the hiring commitment, and the number of officers drifted down with retirements and resignations outpacing recruitment. After a massive petition drive and rally in February 2006, City Hall stepped up recruiting enough to begin a slow upward trend. However, discontent among officers over understaffing, overtime, and City Hall's official tolerance for a culture of disrespect on the streets of Oakland has raised the rate of resignations and retirements.

For more than three years, Oakland residents paid tens of millions of dollars in new Measure Y taxes but had fewer police than the number authorized in 2004 when the council was writing Measure Y.

Today we have only a dozen more officers than the 2004 baseline strength.

The council and mayor are now talking about a Son of Measure Y tax hike in order to get a bit above the goal of 802 police, even as that goal remains elusive. The basic problem is that Oakland, a city of more than 400,000 people, needs at least 1,100 officers. It is the job of the city council and the mayor to set that goal, make a solid commitment, and lay out an overall plan to get there. After a history of failure with Measure Y, vague talk while proposing big new taxes is not acceptable.