The mayor of one of Oakland, California, Libby Schaaf wants to reverse a plan to “defund the police” following an increase in violent crime.
During a Zoom call with reporters, Schaaf announced her plans and her decision makes Oakland the latest city to change course from the “defund the Police” movement many cities either adopted or promised to follow after the protests over the death of George Floyd.
In the call, Schaaf reportedly said that she will be asking the city council to “reverse” the funding cuts to police which are already scheduled to take place next year.
In a video shared by The Hill, Schaaf can be seen saying, “Let me be clear, Oakland needs more police. We have been interrupted by staffing reductions.”
“The defund rhetoric is challenging our ability to attract and retain recruits,” Schaaf complained.
Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf: "Let me be clear, Oakland needs more police. We have been interrupted by staffing reductions. […] The defund rhetoric is challenging our ability to attract and retain recruits." https://t.co/3apWuO0vdo pic.twitter.com/wWwl18Omuk
— The Hill (@thehill) November 30, 2021
The Daily Mail reported that Schaaf’s announcement came after a weekend that saw three people gunned down, including security guard Kevin Nishita, who was protecting a TV news crew, and a 1-year-old boy hit by a stray bullet as he sat in the back of his mother’s car and it brings the number of homicides in the city to 127 so far this year.
Oakland Police Chief LeRonne Armstrong held a press conference today where he addressed the crisis and vowed to keep TV news crews safe.
In June, we reported that the Oakland City Council voted in a 6-2 vote to take $18.4 million from the Police Department budget and put it to “violence prevention” programs.
Previously, we reported on Nishita’s killing:
Over the past week, brazen groups of thieves, with some tallying as many as 90, riding in caravans with dozens of vehicles, wielding hammers and sometimes guns, have ransacked high-end stores across the Bay Area, before racing off with tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars in merchandise.
Things have now turned deadly as a security guard who was shot while working with a local TV news station covering one such recent burglary in downtown Oakland has died, police released a surveillance photo of a suspect vehicle in the shooting.
Kevin Nishita was working as a security guard for a KRON television news crew, who at the time was reporting on a recent smash-and-grab burglary at the clothing store Prime 356 that happened Monday night.
Some of the robberies have been caught on video and have drawn national attention, prompting action from local law enforcement and Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, who recently called on local mayors to “step up.”
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