Oakland Police Chief LeRonne Armstrong said a $30 million defunding cut to the department’s budget in 2020 “definitely had an impact” on a tidal wave of violent crime his city is seeing in recent weeks.
Armstrong made the comments during an interview on FOX News Wednesday morning. You can see the interview in its entirety here.
“We have reduced resources,” Armstrong told FOX News. “It reduces your ability to respond to violent crime and we have seen these spikes occur and we did not have the resources to address these crimes. It definitely had an impact.”
Oakland’s city council voted to restore $10 million in public safety funding to the fire and police departments during Tuesday’s meeting. He said he appreciated the move and called it an “initial step that will help us address the increase of violent crime in our city.”
Armstrong on Monday described sobering statistics of how violence has afflicted every part of the city.
Homicides have jumped 215% to 41 from 13 at the same period in 2020. There have been at least 159 shootings compared t0 79 in 2020.
Carjackings have increased 161 percent, to 149 instances from 57 crimes last year. Robberies are up 50 percent in “every district” of Oakland.
His remarks follow a particularly violent weekend in Oakland that saw three homicides in a 24-hour period, carjackings, robberies, and a series of sideshows that kept officers busy Sunday evening.
“The level of sideshow activity and the violence related to that have contributed to the need for additional police resources,” Armstrong said.
The Chief said he hears a different message from Oakland residents when it comes to the need for police resources in neighborhoods besieged by violence.
“When I meet with community members, they are often asking for more police services, more presence in their community, to see officers walking and to see patrol cars roaming in their communities,” he said. “So I think that message has not been heard as it is when I’m going out and when I’m going into the community. The great need for police services and the numbers clearly suggest there is a problem with violence.”
In March, the city’s “Reimagining Public Safety” task force released its final recommendations to cut the department’s General Purpose Fund (GFP) budget allocation by 50 percent. You can find those recommendations here.
Activists groups have sought to defund the department by diverting funds away from police and towards social services.
“Our mission is to reduce the Oakland Police Budget by 50% and reinvest that money into alternative non-police programs that can better protect and strengthen our communities. We believe defunding the police is the first step towards abolition,” according to a Defund the Police organization statement. “We envision free mental health clinics, trained mediators, and social workers who are able to respond to emergencies, and EMS & Fire Departments that are not tied to the police force.”
Armstrong said the spike in violence is taking a toll on morale among his officers.
“Officers have been working around the clock to address violence, and a message from some community members that don’t appreciate the work they are doing is challenging,” he said. “But the vast majority appreciate our officers and the work they do every day.”
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