Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Jean Quan With Egg on Her Face Over Meaningless "100 Blocks Program; Chief Jordan Admits OPD Never Adopted It
The pressure has been building for several months now, with leaks here and there to suggest that the "100 Blocks" program was either non-existent, or not working. First, I did a series of public records requests that resulted in, at first, totally delayed production of documents, and ultimately, the release of a paltry number of documents, none of which included any correspondence whatsoever between OPD and the Mayor's office referencing anything called the "100 Blocks Program." Then I asked Chief Jordan point blank about it at the District 4 meeting in March, and he admitted they don't use "that term" and that OPD isn't doing anything differently than it has done in the past. That pretty much confirmed, in my mind, that there was no real "100 Blocks" program as far as OPD was concerned, and the claims that police resources were being concentrated in those areas was nothing but BS.
Since then, there has been plenty of criticism that even if there is a program, it's not working. http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/johnson/article/In-Oakland-learning-to-live-with-crime-3635556.php. Some police officials claimed the program only resulted in moving the crime elsewhere. http://www.sfgate.com/crime/article/OPD-chief-burglaries-100-blocks-plan-unrelated-3507766.php
Despite Quan's ridiculous claims that homicides were down 56% (http://www.ibabuzz.com/outtakes/2012/06/12/quan-responds-to-100-blocks-flap/) the actual fact is that the murder rate today is the same as it was last year.
Then came the death blow to her PR scam - actual statistical data that conclusively shows that 90% of the crime doesn't really occur in this limited 100 blocks. http://www.infoalamedacounty.org/index.php/research/crimesafety/violenceprevention/oakland100blocks.html
Undeterred, Quan continued to defend her efforts to defraud the citizenry, claiming that her plan was more "nimble" and that releasing maps of the specific 100 blocks would somehow compromise crime fighting. http://www.kqed.org/news/story/2012/06/12/97345/oakland_group_mayor_spar_over_100_blocks?category=bay+area
But then, while on a junket in Brazil, Quan's assistant finally admitted the statistical data (to the extent it ever really existed) was "incorrect." http://www.thecrimereport.org/news/crime-and-justice-news/2012-06-oakland-crime-data-wrong
Today, she admitted herself that the figures were wrong, but appeared to blame the police department for continuing to allow her to repeat her profoundly erroneous announcements. http://www.insidebayarea.com/news/ci_20955526/quan-tries-explain-key-crime-figure-error
But even more importantly, Chief Howard Jordan released a memo confirming what I had uncovered at the District 4 meeting back in March: the memo confirms that OPD is doing nothing differently than it has in the past. In the memo, Jordan states:
"In August of 2010, the Department implemented a Strategic Plan containing short, mid, and long-term actions ....with the objective of focusing proactive violence suppression and enforcement efforts. OPD continues to follow this framework despite the plan’s recommendation that staffing levels in the Department be greatly improved....Using the framework provided by Strategic Plan action items, OPD most recently implemented a 90-day violence reduction plan on January 17, 2012, contemporaneously with the “100-Block Initiative” kickoff. The violence reduction plan was not restricted by boundaries, but was focused in areas of the city which continue to be afflicted by a disproportionate and unacceptable amount of violence....."
So there you have it - an admission that Jordan is using a "violence reduction plan" that was consistent with a two-year old strategic plan, and Quan was doing her own thing with the 100-Block Initiative. Quan was focusing on some imaginary, undisclosed, or statistically unsupported "100 Blocks," while Jordan was not restricted by any geographic boundaries.
This is absolutely confirmation that Quan's grand solution to Oakland's crime problem, her so-called public safety plan, didn't involve OPD, and wasn't being followed or even referenced by OPD. OPD was just doing what it had always done, and the "100 Blocks" Program was nothing but a bunch of empty rhetoric.
Friday, June 22, 2012
Latest Post from Make Oakland Better Now
Since I have been too busy/lazy to post a whole lot recently, I'm going to take this opportunity to reprint the most recent OakTalk post from Make Oakland Better Now highlighting the scary police staffing numbers, and the fact that the Council is finally starting to acknowledge the connection between abysmal staffing and crime. took them long enough!
Adding Police Officers Takes Center Stage at 6.18 City Council Meeting
by oaktalk
Today's post is by Catherine Binder, a lifelong Oaklander, a second year political science student at Wellesley College and MOBN!'s summer intern.
On June 18th, the Oakland City Council held a special meeting on their Proposed Amended Midcycle Policy Budget for Fiscal Year 2012-2013. The main topic of discussion centered on Oakland’s police force, revealing noteworthy details with regard to future police academies as well as the number of officers currently employed. The councilmembers’ discussion brings attention to the ever present and prominent MOBN! focus on public safety. As mentioned by Councilmember Jane Brunner, the Police Department is undoubtedly understaffed, with 646 officers, a number that continues to decline.
As Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan quipped early on, Oakland performed its own experiment by laying off 80 officers in July 2010. In doing so, crime increased, demonstrating the importance of a strong and correctly sized police department.
To address the understaffed department, a new police academy is scheduled to take place in August. The City Administrator’s budget adjustment proposal includes a second police academy, beginning in January. Because of the candidate procurement process, academy cycle and a shortage of field training officers, OPD can currently only hold two academies per year. Moreover, because both the SFPD and Sheriff’s department are hiring, there is some question whether OPD will be able to fill its academies. In Monday’s meeting, several Oakland residents’ Open Forum speeches began the discussion on the city’s police force, after which councilmembers’ input brought about a heavy focus on pure numbers. In asking Police Chief Howard Jordan various questions on police academies, Councilmember Brunner reviewed such calculations. As Chief Jordan reported, an academy begins with a class of 55 and, with attrition and other factors, typically produces 30 officers. Due to attrition, the OPD is losing roughly 4 to 5 officers every month. In addition, not all incoming cadets successfully complete academy training. For these reasons, each police academy (at which two are currently planned) theoretically results in a net of 16 officers.
In citing a 30% increase in city-wide crime, Brunner, like Councilmember Patricia Kernighan, advocated for a third police academy. Kernighan and Brunner similarly expressed concern over the possibility of stagnation. As Kernighan pointed out, utilizing two police academies a year does not allow Oakland to catch up and expand its steadily declining police force. Brunner, likewise, supported the addition of more police officers, stating Oakland needs an academy before July to truly get ahead.
Kernighan presented what she deemed one scary thought: in December 2012, Oakland will have a police department of 612 officers. Brunner followed up with another, even scarier thought: 90 officers, out of the 612, are currently on leave.
Councilmember Ignacio De La Fuente continued the discussion with a focus on the number of officers actually on Oakland streets, regardless of the number of officers on the force. According to Chief Jordan, 260 officers currently work the streets, whereas Oakland needs 320-330 officers to fully run such operations.
In this City Council meeting, alarming statistics were certainly brought to light. Upon further research, we can see that the declining OPD force has been a continuing trend for many years, even before the 80-officer layoff in 2010 (which, according to the NY Times 7.15.10, resulted in a total of 696 officers). In December 2008, Oakland had about 837 officers (SF Gate 6.5.12). Furthermore, since 2000, OPD’s sworn officer count has fallen 9% (SF Gate 5.25.12). As Chronicle Columnist Chip Johnson points out here, crime has become something Oaklanders find commonplace. And for now, getting officers back on deck seems to be the first step in many toward this greater public safety. MOBN! is pleased to hear the City Council discuss not whether we should have more police academies, but instead how many we should have.
The Oakland City Council is scheduled to take final action on the proposed mid-cycle budget adjustments, including those impacting policing, on Thursday, June 28 at 6:00 p.m.
Adding Police Officers Takes Center Stage at 6.18 City Council Meeting
by oaktalk
Today's post is by Catherine Binder, a lifelong Oaklander, a second year political science student at Wellesley College and MOBN!'s summer intern.
On June 18th, the Oakland City Council held a special meeting on their Proposed Amended Midcycle Policy Budget for Fiscal Year 2012-2013. The main topic of discussion centered on Oakland’s police force, revealing noteworthy details with regard to future police academies as well as the number of officers currently employed. The councilmembers’ discussion brings attention to the ever present and prominent MOBN! focus on public safety. As mentioned by Councilmember Jane Brunner, the Police Department is undoubtedly understaffed, with 646 officers, a number that continues to decline.
As Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan quipped early on, Oakland performed its own experiment by laying off 80 officers in July 2010. In doing so, crime increased, demonstrating the importance of a strong and correctly sized police department.
To address the understaffed department, a new police academy is scheduled to take place in August. The City Administrator’s budget adjustment proposal includes a second police academy, beginning in January. Because of the candidate procurement process, academy cycle and a shortage of field training officers, OPD can currently only hold two academies per year. Moreover, because both the SFPD and Sheriff’s department are hiring, there is some question whether OPD will be able to fill its academies. In Monday’s meeting, several Oakland residents’ Open Forum speeches began the discussion on the city’s police force, after which councilmembers’ input brought about a heavy focus on pure numbers. In asking Police Chief Howard Jordan various questions on police academies, Councilmember Brunner reviewed such calculations. As Chief Jordan reported, an academy begins with a class of 55 and, with attrition and other factors, typically produces 30 officers. Due to attrition, the OPD is losing roughly 4 to 5 officers every month. In addition, not all incoming cadets successfully complete academy training. For these reasons, each police academy (at which two are currently planned) theoretically results in a net of 16 officers.
In citing a 30% increase in city-wide crime, Brunner, like Councilmember Patricia Kernighan, advocated for a third police academy. Kernighan and Brunner similarly expressed concern over the possibility of stagnation. As Kernighan pointed out, utilizing two police academies a year does not allow Oakland to catch up and expand its steadily declining police force. Brunner, likewise, supported the addition of more police officers, stating Oakland needs an academy before July to truly get ahead.
Kernighan presented what she deemed one scary thought: in December 2012, Oakland will have a police department of 612 officers. Brunner followed up with another, even scarier thought: 90 officers, out of the 612, are currently on leave.
Councilmember Ignacio De La Fuente continued the discussion with a focus on the number of officers actually on Oakland streets, regardless of the number of officers on the force. According to Chief Jordan, 260 officers currently work the streets, whereas Oakland needs 320-330 officers to fully run such operations.
In this City Council meeting, alarming statistics were certainly brought to light. Upon further research, we can see that the declining OPD force has been a continuing trend for many years, even before the 80-officer layoff in 2010 (which, according to the NY Times 7.15.10, resulted in a total of 696 officers). In December 2008, Oakland had about 837 officers (SF Gate 6.5.12). Furthermore, since 2000, OPD’s sworn officer count has fallen 9% (SF Gate 5.25.12). As Chronicle Columnist Chip Johnson points out here, crime has become something Oaklanders find commonplace. And for now, getting officers back on deck seems to be the first step in many toward this greater public safety. MOBN! is pleased to hear the City Council discuss not whether we should have more police academies, but instead how many we should have.
The Oakland City Council is scheduled to take final action on the proposed mid-cycle budget adjustments, including those impacting policing, on Thursday, June 28 at 6:00 p.m.
Monday, June 11, 2012
Oakland's Dismal Performance on Crime Response and Transparency Continues
On April 24, I submitted a public records request for documents related to the Police Department's response times for emergency and non-emergency calls, and how those response times have changed in response to recommendations made in a 2010 "Strategic Plan." On June 5, well over a month later, and a month after the 10-day deadline to respond under the Public Records Act, I received a response. Notably, the response indicated that OPD still had not even commenced its search for records related to the "recommendations" to improve response times, so I'm not holding my breath on receiving those additional documents any time soon. Also, the documents only related to dispatch response times; no documents were provided regarding actual police response times. Grade for transparency and compliance with Public Records Act: F.
The records themselves reveal that OPD has nothing to be proud about in terms of its response times. Every month, OPD creates an "activity report" that shows how many "priority 1" calls were dispatched within 1 minutes, 5 minutes, 10 minutes, 15 minutes, 30 minutes, and 60 minutes. They do the same for Priority 2 and Priority 3 calls. Here's a comparison for January 2011 to January 2012:
January 2011 1 minute: 33.32
5 minutes: 69.72
10 minutes: 80.69
15 minutes: 83.43
30 minutes: 86.81
60 minutes 88.89
January 2012
1 minute: 27.50
5 minutes: 62.76
10 minutes: 74,80
15 minutes: 78.74
30 minutes: 83.32
60 minutes: 86.57
For the most part, a review of the reports reveals that OPD's dispatch times have been steadily worsening with each passing month. (Although there are a few anomalies where the dispatch times were particularly abysmal, e.g. May, 2011, where only 47% of the Priority 1 calls were responded to within 5 minutes.) For priority 2 and 3 calls (i.e. non-emergency calls) get this: in January, 2011, only 58% of Priority 2 calls had been dispatched within 58 minutes; only 39% of the Priority 3 calls had been dispatched in 60 minutes. In January, 2012, those numbers dropped to 47% and 28% respectively. Pathetic. Dramatically worse than one year ago. Grade: F
The records themselves reveal that OPD has nothing to be proud about in terms of its response times. Every month, OPD creates an "activity report" that shows how many "priority 1" calls were dispatched within 1 minutes, 5 minutes, 10 minutes, 15 minutes, 30 minutes, and 60 minutes. They do the same for Priority 2 and Priority 3 calls. Here's a comparison for January 2011 to January 2012:
January 2011 1 minute: 33.32
5 minutes: 69.72
10 minutes: 80.69
15 minutes: 83.43
30 minutes: 86.81
60 minutes 88.89
January 2012
1 minute: 27.50
5 minutes: 62.76
10 minutes: 74,80
15 minutes: 78.74
30 minutes: 83.32
60 minutes: 86.57
For the most part, a review of the reports reveals that OPD's dispatch times have been steadily worsening with each passing month. (Although there are a few anomalies where the dispatch times were particularly abysmal, e.g. May, 2011, where only 47% of the Priority 1 calls were responded to within 5 minutes.) For priority 2 and 3 calls (i.e. non-emergency calls) get this: in January, 2011, only 58% of Priority 2 calls had been dispatched within 58 minutes; only 39% of the Priority 3 calls had been dispatched in 60 minutes. In January, 2012, those numbers dropped to 47% and 28% respectively. Pathetic. Dramatically worse than one year ago. Grade: F
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