The Oakland Police Department will be trying out an "all hands" approach to flatten the rising tide of violence in the city.
"When you have a shortage in resources but you have a true problem, you have to make some adjustments," said Chief LeRonne Armstrong.
"That’s what we’re going to do in the Oakland Police Department," he said. "No officer in this organization will be immune from coming out into the streets and supporting our field operations."
Essentially, that means that there will no longer be strict desk duty right now. Every sworn officer will spend at least an hour or two on the streets or on patrol duty each shift.
It’s a way to create a larger presence on the street without growing the department, said Armstrong. The initiative began this week, and not a moment too soon, according to the chief.
"I’m alarmed at the things that we’ve seen in Chinatown, the videos that I’ve watched," he said. "When good Samaritans are attempting to step up and they’re being shot, it really says that there is a need for a greater presence."
But as the chief stated in a recent online interview, even with the new protocol, recruitment of new officers is badly needed.
"The department is shrinking while the city is growing," he said.
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