Crime is up significantly in Oakland, while the city's police department says staffing is down.
Oakland Police Chief LeRonne Armstrong said he has needed to shift some personnel to try to get a handle on the problem.
"We've seen increases in group and gang violence," Police Chief LeRonne Armostrong said. "We've seen homicides related to human trafficking. We’ve seen homicides related to robberies, and carjackings and other very serious crimes."
But since Armstrong said police staffing has reached its lowest level in years, he will be rotating desk officers onto street patrols.
"As of this week, we have had to move additional investigators into the homicide section because these numbers are much higher than we've seen in the past several years," he said.
Rev. Damita Davis-Howard, director of the city’s ceasefire program, said arrests alone aren't enough to lower crime rates in the city. Her program relies on direct outreach, and she said more of that is needed.
"We can't arrest our way out of the problem," Howard said. "Talking to and developing communications with these mostly young men to put down their guns is the way to go."
Chief Armstrong said he believes public safety needs to be front and center of everything the city does.
