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The call to defund police is being taken up by union groups in the East Bay as labor leaders are calling on police unions to embrace reforms, or else.
"Yeah, it’s an ultimatum," Service Employees International Union VP Sanjay Garla told KCBS Radio.
Garla explained if the Oakland Police Officers Association and all police unions do not endorse law enforcement reforms, they could be removed from labor federations.
"And we’re saying to the police union 'Get on the right side of history,'" Garla said. "Or you do not belong in our labor movement."
Dozens of union members formed a socially distanced line in front of the OPOA offices. Among them was Kat Bedford, who said in her experience police are not there to protect and serve communities of color.
"Now they’re here as the judge, jury and executers," Bedford said. "And we’re funding that? At the same time, they’re cutting programs in our schools."
Last week, police unions in San Francisco, San Jose and Los Angeles called for a national database of former cops fired for gross misconduct to prevent other agencies from hiring them.
In response, OPOA released this statement to KCBS Radio: "While Oakland Police Officers respect our brothers and sisters in labor, we wonder why they have not educated themselves about the Oakland Police Officers long history of embracing reform. The Oakland Police Department is by any measure the most progressive Police Department in the nation."
Oakland Police Officers Association President Barry Donelan said his officers "have long been on the vanguard of reform and will continue to be leaders."