Public Safety My #1 Priority

By Mario Juarez

Public Safety must become a priority in District 5. Our crime challenges must be addressed to fully realize Oakland's tremendous potential.

Public safety is my top concern. Not all 400,000 plus Oakland residents are criminals, but the few who are affects every aspect of city life and development. Oakland's unacceptably high crime rate has landed us on the nation's top crime cities list, discouraged new business from locating here and has many of us afraid of coming out of our own homes at night + and sometimes during the day. Until our crime numbers decrease dramatically, public safety will be my utmost priority.

Prevention

One of the best crime prevention mechanisms is a job. Much of today's crime is committed either by our young people - many of whom did not finish school + and the monthly influx of approximately 250 parolees, both of these populations have extremely limited employment opportunities.

Through my user fee initiative discussed below, I will seek to generate revenue for our public schools that will help with student retention.

We don't need to reinvent the wheel, Excellent and effective employment preparation and support programs already exist. I will work to better coordinate existing job development and training services and programs to make them more accessible. I will promote an Oakland goal of 10,000 new jobs.

Community Policing and Oakland Officers from Oakland

When I was growing up, we all knew the local beat officer and he knew many of us, our school and our parents. We were less likely to act out as a result. We need to get back to a community policing approach. I support filling existing Oakland Police Department positions and then growing the Department to 1100 officers (according to outside auditor reported need) so that we can fully implement a community policing model while not taking away from the Department's ability to respond to immediate situations.

Home grown officers have inherently personal connections to the neighborhoods they protect. An inherent knowledge of the people, culture and idiosyncrasies of an area may help guide responses and actions in challenging situations. To develop more home-grown officers, I will work to expand the CADET program in conjunction with the Peralta Community Colleges. The CADET Program, with current participation of between 15 + 30, engages high school graduates who work in support and training positions with the Oakland Police Department. Learn more at http://www.opdjobs.com/oakland-police-department-police-cadets.htm. I will work to see this expanded to 300 participants who are required to complete an Administration of Justice curriculum and as a result are fast-tracked into our police department. This program has been successful in other cities like San Jose and I will promote its effectiveness in Oakland to home-grow our police force.

Redirect, not Criminalize our Youth

Although Oakland currently has a curfew law, children as young as 11 and 12 years old are sometimes seen out on the streets, alone, at all hours of the night. I will pursue enforcement of the existing city-wide curfew for minors. At the same time, these young people should not be criminalized. In conjunction with curfew enforcement I will push to establish of a "curfew center" - that also serves as a truancy center during the day - and provides wrap-around services. At this facility, young people who are picked up will be assessed by various social service agencies to determine why they are out and what issues they have to be addressed, and their parents or guardians will be notified to pick them up.

Paying for it All

Crime in Oakland affects everything about our city. Until we get a handle on crime, Oakland's future will remain constrained. We must all pull together to attack this problem, we must all be willing to invest in its solution, we must agree to pay what is necessary.

Other cities faced with funding challenges to address critical problems have turned to reasonable user fees. As has been successfully done elsewhere, I will pursue funding from the imposition of a specific new user fee in partnership with the Port of Oakland that is projected to generate between $20 million to $45 million per year, without raising general taxes, business taxes or imposing additional city-wide assessments.