The Oakland City Council has voted to fund two additional police academies over the next two years, as the city contends with dozens of department vacancies and an increase in violent crime.
The city will spend an additional $11 million over the next two fiscal years – redirecting over $5.8 million in the 2021-22 fiscal year, and adding $5.3 million to the mid-cycle budget in the next – to add two new police academies, which the city administrator projected would graduate 60 sworn officers by June 2023. Additionally, the city will contract a hiring agency to recruit experienced officers from around the country.
Vice Mayor Rebecca Kaplan, Council President Nikki Fortunato Bas, Council President Pro Tempore Sheng Thao and Councilmembers Dan Kalb, Loren Taylor and Treva Reid voted yes on the pair of resolutions. Councilmember Noel Gallo voted no, while Councilmember Carroll Fife abstained.
"Today's action will allow us to carry out a holistic vision of public safety to address the tragic surge in crime and violence in our city by increasing Oakland's police force by 60 more officers," Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf, who proposed adding two new academies, said in a statement on Tuesday.
Schaaf added that Oakland residents "spoke up for a comprehensive approach to public safety" that would "address crime's root causes" and include an "adequately staffed police department." Public comment was decidedly more mixed during Tuesday's meeting, with many speakers opposing the proposals.
Some councilmembers who voted for both resolutions criticized Schaaf, Oakland Police Chief LeRonne Armstrong – who spoke during the meeting – and the Oakland Police Officers Association for their rhetoric over staffing levels and the city's increase in violent crime.
Bas noted that Schaaf told constituents the council would vote on hiring 60 new officers, adding that the proposals didn’t budget any new positions within the police department. Following additional public comment after the vote, Bas also clarified the academies' full cost includes the mid-cycle adjustment – and not just the $5.8 million this fiscal year – after a speaker asked her to use her point of privilege as council president to do so.
The Oakland Police Department currently has 676 officers, two below the minimum established in 2014 by the voter-approved Measure Z. The City Council passed a budget in June that provided funding for 737 officers.
That budget originally included four academies, two fewer than the mayor’s proposal, and its passage has led to repeated criticism from the police union that the City Council had "defunded" the police department. The department's budget increased by about $38 million under the passed budget.
The City Council in September voted 6-2 on a resolution, introduced by Thao, to add a fifth police academy. Thao also introduced a resolution, approved on Tuesday, that directs the city to "undertake all possible efforts" to fill one of Oakland’s two academies with experienced recruits. On Dec. 21, city councilmembers will vote on her proposal to provide $20,000 signing bonuses to recruits from Oakland and $50,000 to experienced officers.
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