The Oakland City Council approved a decision on Tuesday to hire more police officers to fight the recent rise in crime after trying to cut police funding in support of the Black Lives Matter movement, the Associated Press reported.  

Mayor Libby Schaaf was able to get a new proposal that would add two new police academies and unfreeze positions at least 60 new officers approved by the council. 

Although Oakland Council members could not agree on a proposal for offering $50,000 to lure experienced officers from other cities and $20,000 for Oakland residents to become police cadets, hiring incentives for experienced officers will be figured out later. 

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Mayor Schaaf praised the vote saying, “Residents spoke up for a comprehensive approach to public safety — one that includes prevention, intervention, and addressing crime’s root causes, as well as an adequately staffed police department.” 

After the rise in violence, Oakland’s decision to reverse course on police funding has some critics upset. They believe that officers are ineffective at preventing crime and traumatize residents, especially Black people. They claim there is no staffing shortage within the police department and that officers should focus on the most serious crimes. 

“What’s terrifying about this is as Oakland goes, so goes the country,” said Cat Brooks, co-founder of Oakland’s Anti Police-Terror Project, urging the council to vote down increased police staffing. “If we allow it to be demolished here, we are giving fuel for faux progressives and right-wing folks to destroy the movement across the country.” 

An Oakland crime surge has seen the city go from 78 homicides in 2019 to 109 in 2020 and 129 this year. The homicides, unfortunately, included a young child who was sleeping in a car when he was struck by a stray bullet and the shooting death of a retired police officer working as a security guard for a television news crew. Both of these homicides happened during the daytime. 

After Tuesday’s decision, Oakland has joined a roster of other cities that have many Black Lives Matter protests but have had to increase public safety finances to fight the recent rise in homicides, officer shortages and political pressure.  

In November the city council in Portland, Oregon, was faced with a similar challenge after reducing the public safety budget in response to the protests over the 2020 police murder of George Floyd. The city’s council then approved a new budget that increased the $230 million police budget by $5.2 million.  

If you or someone you know is struggling from trauma triggered by this story, resources are available here.