Community Safety
-Crime is increasing in Oakland, particularly robberies and violent crime. Oakland neighbors deserve better.
-Mayor Thao and City Council’s new budget caps the hiring of police officers at 712. Oakland is already underpoliced. Our city has 164 officers per 100,000 residents, significantly less than both the US average of 240 and the European average of 333. A further reduction in officers is simply unacceptable.
-While many of the proposed alternatives to policing lack evidence of effectiveness, we know that increasing the number of police leads to:
-fewer homicides, particularly in high poverty neighborhoods
-less aggressive policing tactics
-NTO highly recommends the following 2020 article by Dustin Guastella which highlights that there is robust evidence demonstrating that police officers, like any other human being, are subject to poor job performance when overworked, stressed and exhausted. As a result, “fewer officers often correlates with greater police lethality.”- Dustin Guastella
Help make Oakland safe for everyone. Take a few simple steps to be a part of change:
Learn about local public safety issues by subscribing to NTO’s mailing list and attend NTO public safety advocacy events.
Talk to your neighbors about public safety issues. Many still feel compelled to silence by the stifling atmosphere engendered by ideological zealots, but courage is contagious!
Email NTO Staff at info@neighborstogetheroakland.org with immediate public safety concerns.
Volunteer with NTO to help foster an environment which forces accountability for the conditions of our city.
Display our lawn signs and encourage neighbors to do the same.