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Alameda County, CA November 4, 2014 Election
Smart Voter

Community Policing is Everything

By Ken Houston

Candidate for Mayor; City of Oakland

This information is provided by the candidate
Most candidates think that hiring more officers is the answer to reducing crime. It is not! Hiring more officers is just a Band Aid.
Community policing everything and is something I have first-hand experience. If the OPD goes back and does the research, there was an officer named Officer Crabtree, and ask him or his son how community policing affects the community. They can give you the answer better than I because Officer Crabtree did it better than me. He reached out to me, never judging me where I was from, where I come from, or what he thought I was doing, He embraced me, he embraced my family with no ties. And he is one of the reasons I am successful and made it out of the Flats in one piece. As the Mayor and as the Commander in Chief I will have the right people in place that will trickle down to the others of similar character as Officer Character.

Next, there need to be options other than lethal force. It is a tragedy that so many of our youths are being killed by police officers. Why is this only happening in lower income, predominantly minority communities? It is from lack of leadership at City Hall, lack of training, hiring officers that do not represent the community, and lack of true community policing.

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ca/alm Created from information supplied by the candidate: October 23, 2014 15:53
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