Oakland PD study: Homicides skyrocket after funds redirected to gentle “public safety programs”

Is it surprising that weakening Oakland’s city law enforcement directly increased local homicides, carjacking, and shootings? BLM’s calls to defund the police in 2020 led to the Oakland PD rerouting valuable funds to non-violent safety programs, which, ever-so-bafflingly, encouraged rampant criminal activity. California Globe’s Evan Symon examines the OPD case and why weakening local PDs invariably fails residents. To receive daily updates of new Opp Now stories, click here.

In 2020, a wave of local support in Oakland pushed to defund the police in Oakland, as well as reduce officers in the OPD. While the police budget wasn’t ultimately reduced, many positions in the department were frozen with funds that would likely gone to the police instead being rerouted to civilian-led public safety programs and other local endeavors aimed at a reduction in crime.

At the same time, crime in nearby San Francisco, has exploded. Carjackings in Oakland have gone up by 100%, with a 50% rise in other crimes like shootings being reported by the Oakland Police. Oakland’s homicide rate is the highest it has been in decades, with its 100th homicide happening in September.

In comparison, there were only 52 homicides in the city by that time in 2019. Currently in Oakland, there have been 129 homicides in total.

This article originally appeared in the California Globe. Read the whole thing here.

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