One day after Oakland recorded its 100th homicide of the year, the City Council decided to add an extra police academy to increase the number of officers on city streets, pushing aside its rejection earlier this summer for another class of cadets.
Three months ago, the council voted against adding a fifth police academy in the city's two-year budget, saying at the time that more resources needed to be invested in violence prevention services.
But on Tuesday night, the resolution to add a fifth academy, introduced by Councilmember Sheng Thao, passed 6-2 with council President Nikki Fortunato Bas and Councilmember Carroll Fife voting against the plan.
Thao had opposed the extra academy in June but reversed her position in the wake of criticism from constituents as violent crime has spiked in the city.
Police Chief LeRonne Armstrong said the newly funded academy would have 20 trainees and would start in January or February. The resolution also orders the city administrator to study the possibility of adding a sixth police academy next year. It directs the city administrator to prioritize recruitment efforts with local community colleges to boost diversity and look into providing child care for police trainees.
"As a City Council member, a mother and a victim of a home burglary and a survivor of domestic violence, I know personally just how important effective policing and public safety is in the city of Oakland," Thao said. "No matter who you are, when your home is broken into, or you (hear) gunshots outside your door or when you walk to your car alone at night, you want to feel safe."
Fortunato Bas said she doesn't know how a police academy will prevent violence. She said "building a comprehensive safety infrastructure should be our top priority" — by investing in violence interrupters, mental health services, parks, libraries and other programs.
"The status quo is not yielding results," she said.
Fife said that even if the council had approved an additional academy this year, the officers wouldn't be on the streets yet to help address the rise in crime. Instead, the city should look to "quadruple the number of dollars going into prevention."
The debate over adding a police academy came amid concerns that violent crime is escalating and the number of sworn police personnel is dwindling.
The department currently has 694 sworn personnel, the lowest number since 2014. Barry Donelan, president of the Oakland Police Officers Association, said the city is losing about 10 officers a month to other law enforcement agencies and retirement.
In a statement Tuesday, Donelan criticized the council for voting in June to fund four police academies and not the six that Mayor Libby Schaaf had initially proposed. In May, Schaaf proposed a two-year budget that would increase funding for the police by spending $693 million total. Instead, councilmembers approved a budget that funds four police academies and boosted funding for violence prevention measures and social services.
"Oakland's dwindling ranks of police officers are struggling to stem the violence and bloodshed on city streets," Donelan said. " City Council members who previously voted to defund the police, helping fuel Oakland violence, are now considering more police academies. How about this strategy: support your hardworking police officers and act against violence."
Some residents are demanding more police, ramping up pressure on city officials to respond to shootings, while others argue that funding social services and anti-violence programs is the best path to reducing homicides.
One concern about dwindling staffing is that if the department reaches 678 sworn personnel, the city could lose out on millions of dollars in revenue from Measure Z, a voter-approved parcel tax that funds public safety and violence intervention programs. But last week, City Administrator Ed Reiskin said the council could vote for an exemption to stem the loss in Measure Z funds.
On Monday, Schaaf urged residents by email to call into the meeting to support Thao's resolution.
"We can reimagine public safety and we can provide a basic level of public safety for our residents," Schaaf said before the meeting.
Measure Z is projected to generate more than $26 million in revenue in the fiscal year 2021-2022 to fund police services, including crime reduction teams, community resources officers and the anti-violence Ceasefire program, as well as street outreach, victim support, re-entry programs and fire services, said Karen Boyd, a spokesperson for the city administration.
Boyd said if the Police Department's staffing drops below 678, the city could lose about $72,429 per day until staffing is restored or an exemption is approved. Each police academy costs about $4 million.
At Tuesday's meeting, dozens of people spoke during nearly two hours of public comment. Most speakers urged the council to consider an exemption before approving a fifth academy.
Cat Brooks, the executive director of the Anti Police-Terror Project, called on the council to hold off on voting for another academy. She emphasized that more police won't prevent crimes, but social services will.
"Healthy, whole and happy" people don't commit crimes, she said.
The department is currently funded for 45 police officer trainees per academy for two academies this fiscal year and two the following fiscal year.
In May, only 23 out of 45 trainees graduated after people dropped out. And a current police academy is set to graduate 26 out of 45 trainees — leaving 41 funded positions that won't be filled. The cost savings from those two academies could potentially fund another academy, a spokesman for the department said.
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