OAKLAND, Calif. (KRON) – Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf held a town hall Thursday, touching on police reform and structural racism.
The town hall came after recent protests over the death of George Floyd and after thousands made their way to Mayor Schaaf’s neighborhood, demanding she defund the police department.
Mayor Schaaf said she does not believe we have to defund the police in order to invest in Oakland.
She gave a budget breakdown on how much is actually invested in the local police department, disclosing that OPD makes up about 20% of the city’s budget.
Mayor Schaaf added that the current proposed budget for the city cuts roughly $5 million out of OPD’s budget.
The proposed budget also adds $22 million to services, including affordable housing, homeless services, job training, and addressing illegal dumping in East and West Oakland.
Several city leaders lent their voices during the town hall, including representatives from the police department and other agencies.
They talked about non-law enforcement agencies intervention and some of the work that is being done here at home.
Mayor Schaaf also encouraged people to tune in to the police department commission meetings that happen, where that oversight for OPD policies happen.
She is limiting her town hall nights to the 1st and 3rd Thursdays of each month, so that people can tune in to those commission meetings on the 2nd and 4th Thursdays.
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