Oakland's police chief made it known Monday he's not happy with the two-year budget the City Council passed last week.
Although the Oakland Police Department's budget increased by $9 million, the spending is $18 million fewer than Mayor Libby Schaaf initially proposed. Most of that money is being diverted to the Department of Violence Prevention, a civilian force that works to address violence before it starts.
"Crime is out of control in the City of Oakland, and our response was for less police resources," Oakland Police Chief LeRonne Armstrong said in a Monday press conference.
Council President Nikki Fortunato Bas, who spearheaded the amended budget, wrote in a statement after last Thursday's vote that "we are changing course in the City of Oakland."
While the cause is complex and likely multifaceted, Armstrong said the COVID-19 pandemic coincided with a sharp rise in violent crime in Oakland.
For the first half of last year, the city experienced 35 homicides, consistent with 2019. But in the second half of 2020, that figure rose to 67. It’s up to 61 in 2021, after one man was killed and another six people were injured in a Juneeteenth celebration at Lake Merritt.
"We find ourselves in a crisis," Armstrong said. "We find ourselves reeling from a weekend of violence."
Armstrong estimated that more than 40 officers could lose their jobs under the new budget. Mayor Schaaf first pegged the total at 50 in a statement following Thursday’s vote.
The City Council heard over four hours of public comment ahead of the vote, with over 100 people speaking. Many were concerned about the rise in gun violence in the city, yet most speakers wanted to see resources moved to spending on violence prevention rather than responses to violent crime.
The amended budget passed with a 6-2 vote.
"After the brutal killing of George Floyd, after five years and more of organizing among activists for police accountability, for transformative justice, Oakland went through a process to reimagine safety," Fortunato Bas said in a press conference after the vote. "And on this day, on June 24, we actually are doing something about it. We're putting our money where our mouth is."