Oakland Police Chief Howard Jordan acknowledged Friday that the city has significantly altered a taxpayer-mandated community policing program to support Mayor Jean Quan's new public safety initiative.

Jordan said the department has temporarily reassigned 22 problem-solving officers to crime-fighting teams as part of the mayor's 100-block plan, which focuses law enforcement and social service efforts on the city's most violent neighborhoods.

The officers' salaries are funded by Measure Y, a parcel tax voters approved in 2004 that generates approximately $20 million annually. The money not only pays for the officers, who work with residents on neighborhood beats to address a variety of probems, from burglaries to blight, but it also supports crime-prevention programs.

The chief's public acknowledgement comes after The Bay Citizen reported that many residents had complained about the reassignments. In "a message to the community" issued Friday, Jordan said that residents had raised the issue "so often" at community meetings that he "felt it necessary to address it."

"As Chief, it is my responsibility to provide you with the most effective public safety service possible," Jordan wrote. "In an environment where serious, violent crime has become unacceptably routine, it is imperative that we impact this level of violence by making the most of our existing resources in an effective and responsible manner."

The redeployment has angered community policing advocates and some wealthier residents, who say the city is using their money to pay for a plan that does not help them. Measure Y generates about $20 million annually.

“It's a bait and switch,” said Marleen Sacks, a lawyer who lives in the Oakland Hills who has sued the city twice over misuse of the tax. “The whole reason the city got us to vote for Measure Y, me included, was that we were promised our own dedicated problem-solving officers.”

Others welcome the change, saying the taxpayer-funded community policing program has not made a dent in the city's violent crime problem. The mayor's new plan, supporters say, could reduce the violence.

“ You have to put your resources where the problems are,” said Jose Dorado, who Quan appointed as the chair of the Measure Y Oversight Committee, when she was a city councilwoman.“I see both sides. It makes sense to focus your resource where you have 90 percent of the murders.”

The redeployment is possible through a clever reworking of the department's beat system. When Measure Y was first passed, there were 57 beats, requiring 57 separate problem-solving officers. After the department lost more than 100 officers, department officials found they could no longer afford to devote so much manpower to the community policing program, so they expanded the area covered by each beat, reducing the total number of beats to 35. The remaining problem-solving officers were placed on “crime reduction teams,” which are now being deployed to the 100 blocks.

According to the City Attorney's Office, such reassignnments are legal under the terms of Measure Y.

“There's a lot of debate about what the problem-solving officers should be doing. Is this an improper use of Measure Y money?,” said Deputy City Attorney Mark Morodomi. “The language of Measure Y gives it some flexibility. If someone told me they're using Measure Y money to buy cruises on the Caribbean, we would want that stopped.”

The department said the changes are critical for a department that has seen staffing levels drop from a high of 803 in 2010 to its current level of about 630 officers. Police commanders have felt limited by the Measure Y requirements, which barred them from using any of the 57 problem-solving officers for other purposes.

“The required staffing of Measure Y positions significantly impacted us,” said Sgt. Chris Bolton, the department's chief of staff.

Because of dwindling staffing levels, the department has also cut six crime reduction squads and two traffic enforcement squads; 60 percent of the foot patrol units; and 20 positions from the criminal investigations division. The department only has 296 officers patrolling the streets.

The problem-solving officer program of today “cannot look the same” as the program of 2004, Bolton said. “Without these extra squads and their flexibility and mobility — many with the specific purpose of addressing violent crime — basic, integral functions of law enforcement simply would not occur.”

Many who were first supportive of a community policing program now agree that the cuts have undermined crime-fighting efforts.

“We have a shortage of police officers, so I understand the need,” said Marcus Johnson, who serves on the Community Policing Advisory Board. “Who else is going to do it?”

But the changes have also come with sacrifices and many concerns, including a high turnover rate among remaining problem-solving officers. Residents complained that sharing officers with other neighborhoods had left the officers with less time to devote to combatting crime.

Police officers have told The Bay Citizen that much of the recent uptick in shootings and homicides have occurred outside of the 100 blocks. The Bay Citizen has not been able to verify that information because the mayor's office has declined to release the list of specific blocks.

According to Jordan, the redeployment is producing results: From Jan. 17 to Feb. 17, the crime reduction teams in the 100 blocks made 598 vehicle stops, 248 field investigations, 170 probation and parole searches, 170 arrests and 17 firearm recoveries.

Jordan did not cite a percentage drop in crime. He said that problem-solving officers will return to regular duties in 60 days.

In the meantime, some question the wisdom of relying on temporary resouces to combat widespread crime.

“It is unacceptable that the resources are stretched so thin that we can't even get an officer to respond to a crime that's as serious as residential burglary or robbery,” Sacks said. “This negatively impacts neighborhoods like mine.”

http://www.baycitizen.org/policing/story/nearly-half-oakland-community-policing/print/

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