Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
Oakland mayor: Defund the police push went 'too far'
Politico Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf on Thursday called for more investment in addressing what she said are the root causes of violent crime that has spiked in big cities across the nation.
But Schaaf stopped short of echoing calls from activists to defund the police, arguing that the push “went too far and got convoluted.”
“It’s been particularly heart wrenching in Oakland because we had just made national headlines for cutting gun violence in half and sustaining those lower rates for five years,” Schaaf said in an interview with POLITICO for The Fifty: America’s Mayors summit. Schaaf added that “when we saw this surge come up during the pandemic, and let’s also be honest, after George Floyd, after this country just saw its faith in government justice compromised, we were just heartbroken.”
2021 was one of the deadliest years in Oakland in the past decade. Nationwide, the murder rate rose by 30 percent in 2020 compared to 2019, the biggest increase in the last century. Schaaf said Thursday that investments in housing, public health and behavioral health would drive down crime rates. And while she distanced herself from calls to defund the police, a movement to divest police funding into other crime prevention services that gained national momentum after the police killing of George Floyd in 2020, she said conversations about reforming the criminal justice system are important.
But Schaaf stopped short of echoing calls from activists to defund the police, arguing that the push “went too far and got convoluted.”
“It’s been particularly heart wrenching in Oakland because we had just made national headlines for cutting gun violence in half and sustaining those lower rates for five years,” Schaaf said in an interview with POLITICO for The Fifty: America’s Mayors summit. Schaaf added that “when we saw this surge come up during the pandemic, and let’s also be honest, after George Floyd, after this country just saw its faith in government justice compromised, we were just heartbroken.”
2021 was one of the deadliest years in Oakland in the past decade. Nationwide, the murder rate rose by 30 percent in 2020 compared to 2019, the biggest increase in the last century. Schaaf said Thursday that investments in housing, public health and behavioral health would drive down crime rates. And while she distanced herself from calls to defund the police, a movement to divest police funding into other crime prevention services that gained national momentum after the police killing of George Floyd in 2020, she said conversations about reforming the criminal justice system are important.
6 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read
Lemme check.
