Dellums: "Historical Day" –
Most Police in Oakland History

After adding several dozen officers in 2008, Oakland still has half a police department compared to most major cities. While mayor Dellums called the marginal increase a historical achievement, we are nowhere near the 1,100 police that Oakland needs.

Dellums did not remind residents that we have no City jail, almost no in-house fingerprint capability, too few cars for the officers and no coherent policy for getting some police out of cars, two crime statistics staff instead of the six Oakland once had, and seven dispatcher positions not filled for years.

Oakland still has official tolerance for the culture of disrespect, such as allowing a drug rapper to promote his new CD under the banner of City-sponsored National Night Out.

With all the finesse of a steam shovel, Dellums announced that the record police staffing was only a momentary thing. He is already canceling police training academies, advising residents that the City will be back below the 803 officers mandated in Measure Y by summer 2009. The tax will continue to be collected.

In the Spring, the mayor thundered that we must raid the Measure Y fund in order to recruit officers. Now he has done a U-turn, canceling recruitment in progress. A resident tells us: "There were offers extended to come work for our city. During the orientation class they were notified that the class was canceled and they no longer had jobs. Some of the people had sold their homes and moved to the Bay Area (from as far away as New York-ed.) for the opportunity to work for our city. Now they are left high and dry. I can't believe our city would be so thoughtless with people's lives in these trying economic times!"

The recruits had letters from the City stating, "A position will be reserved for you in the 166th Recruit Academy on Monday December 8, 2008." They were advised that at the Nov. 13 orientation they would sign up for a medical plan and receive their OPD serial number. (Reported by Ron Oz.)

Instead, the powers-that-be at City Hall informed the police department its December academy is canceled – on the very morning of the recruits' orientation last Thursday, Nov. 13, 2008. Budget issues, as acting city administrator Dan Lindheim told the city council on Nov. 18? Hardly; the budget situation has been plain for months.

KTVU reports the hiring fiasco.

Instead, Dellums wanted to get past election day, Nov. 4, because he had Measure NN on the ballot, a promise to add more police for a huge new parcel tax. It would not help to cancel an academy before the voters spoke (although they rejected this Son of Measure Y anyway). NN's money was supposed to be for additional police, but events suggest the new revenue would have been used for current operations. After all, for three years after Measure Y passed, the City actually had fewer officers than when the proposal was written.

At the Nov. 18, 2008 city council meeting, councilmember Jean Quan admitted she is already hearing objections from residents. Her explanation in reply to them: the December academy was not canceled but rather "delayed" to July 2009 or later. Somehow Quan thinks repackaging a rotten fish contains the odor. Tell that to the 44 recruits who were informed on the day of their academy opening orientation session that they are welcome to hang around the Bay Area with no income for seven months.

Dellums' claimed record staff level of 837 is phony counting. The figure includes recruits trained under a contract in Santa Clara County. Despite being counted as graduated officers, they are currently spending five or six weeks in finish-up training in Oakland. By the time they get on the street, other police will have retired and resigned, meaning that the department never really got to 837 officers.

Meanwhile, daytime home burglaries have resumed in the Montclair district. Similar waves of breakins have hit the Maxwell Park and Harrison-Oak neighborhoods recently, too.