Crime is an inescapable issue in Oakland. CQ Press ranks the city the third most violent in the country, even though local taxpayers have put millions of dollars towards hiring more police and funding alternative crime-fighting measures. The recession has hit Oakland particularly hard, and with the city deep in debt, officials are scrambling to cut costs. The biggest target is public safety, which makes up three-fourths of discretionary spending.
This November, Oakland will elect a mayor who will somehow have to find a solution to this quandary. KALW's Ali Winston looked at how this issue is playing out in the mayoral race.
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ALI WINSTON: On the evening of July 8, hundreds of people gathered in downtown Oakland to protest the involuntary manslaughter conviction of former BART police officer Johannes Mehserle in the killing of Oscar Grant. As the evening wore on, some of the crowd turned to vandalism, prompting police to move in. However, some in the streets that night tried to keep the peace.
REBECCA KAPLAN: Hey, cut that out. Cut that out. This is a peaceful protest.
JEAN QUAN: Hey, can you help me create a line so these guys can't get close? Come on guys, let's get a line and move these people out.
Councilmembers Rebecca Kaplan and Jean Quan, along with Larry Reid and Desley Brooks, tried to calm protestors and avoid confrontations. Kaplan and Quan helped form a line of peacekeepers to block the majority of protestors from the advancing police.
A week later, the Oakland Police Department (OPD) announced that both Kaplan and Quan might be investigated for their conduct at the downtown protests, specifically for their attempt to keep the peace between police and demonstrators.
Oakland Police Department Spokesman Jeff Thomason says the investigation could eventually include Brooks and Reid.
JEFF THOMASON: I don't have any information on the other councilmembers. I just know we're still investigating the whole entire incident – it's not just on those council members, we're investigating everybody that was out there. Any photos, video, information that comes in, any evidence, we're investigating it and there probably will be more arrests down the line.
[Update: On Friday, July 23, Officer Thomason said that Oakland Police have not received any evidence, video or statements regarding the conduct of Councilmembers Brooks or Reid on the night of July 8]
It's interesting enough that city councilmembers are under investigation. But it's especially curious when you consider Kaplan and Quan are both in the midst of a tough race to become the next mayor of Oakland. They say they were singled out by the OPD for political reasons, and if you look at the Facebook page of the Oakland Police Officer's Association, you'll see its stance on Quan and Kaplan. Under a picture of the two councilmembers blocking officers at the protests, it says: “How do you think they will vote on the question of police officer lay offs [sic]?”
Relations between the council and the police department have been tense for over a year – and last week, the council voted to lay off 80 officers after the union refused to accept a pay cut. Former State Senator Don Perata, the other leading mayoral candidate, criticized the layoffs.
RASHIDAH GRINAGE: There's no question that Perata is politicizing this for his own purpose and the OPOA – Oakland Police Officers Association – has early indicated their support for him.
Rashidah Grinage is the director of PUEBLO, a community group dedicated to monitoring the OPD.
GRINAGE: So they're working hand in glove to drum up hysteria about the chaos and the war zone that Oakland will become if we lose any officers.
Last week, PUEBLO held a forum at Lakeside Baptist Church, where community members could hear mayoral candidates' positions on public safety issues. All the major candidates showed up, except for Don Perata.
On one hand, Grinage is bothered by the candidates politicizing crime in Oakland. On the other, she says that public safety is Oakland's most pressing issue, but not for the usual reasons. According to city documents, Oakland will spend over $216 million on the Police Department in the current budget cycle – or 43 percent of all general fund expenditures. By contrast, San Francisco spends only 6.7 percent of its budget on police services.
GRINAGE: And when you add the fire department to that and loan repayments, you hardly have any money left in the city.
Although crime in Oakland is down 18 percent from 2009, some residents are alarmed at the police layoffs and wary of a resurgence of violence. Three high-profile officer-involved shootings and a downtown murder last week did not help matters.
In the absence of a long-term solution to Oakland's intertwined budget and public safety crises, the city council is considering whether to put a parcel tax measure on November's ballot that could raise up to $53 million a year for five years.
Whether voters can stomach another tax, and one that increases an already large public safety budget in hard times, remains to be seen. What's for certain is that mayoral candidates will continue to play on Oaklanders' desire for safety right down to the wire in November.
In Oakland, I'm Ali Winston for Crosscurrents.
