The City of Oakland’s released, and the Oakland City Council and members of the Oakland Police Commission, and the Safety and Service Oversight Commission are discussing, a report on violence prevention efforts related to the Public Safety and Services Violence Prevention Act of 2014 (Measure Z). What follows is the entire report (in text form, then embeded via Doc Droid) that’s in the Oakland City Council Agenda for this meeting, date: Tuesday, April 30th, 2019.
OAKLAND VIOLENCE PREVENTION REPORT EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This report provides a summary of how City Departments have utilized funding from the Public Safety and Services Violence Prevention Act of 2014 (Measure Z) to reduce violence and considers grounding this work within a racial equity framework to improve effectiveness. This report is presented at a joint meeting of the City Council and the Safety and Services Oversight Commission along with members of Police Commission and Community Policing Advisory Board (CPAB) as required by the Measure Z .
Staff recommends that the City Council receive this informational report that discusses using a racial equity framework to guide violence prevention and reduction efforts under Measure Z and citywide. Violence has a vastly disproportionate impact on communities of color, specifically African Americans and Latinos, in Oakland and elsewhere. No one effort alone can achieve safety and healing. Inequitable systems that drive disparities in criminalization, wealth, health, education, and housing are all forms of structural violence – and they perpetuate the cycle of individual violence. The City of Oakland has embraced an explicit equity approach that highlights the need to change its own systems and institutions that contribute to inequitable outcomes related to violence.
This joint meeting presents an opportunity for community members and City leaders to articulate a commitment to reducing disparities to those who experience violence without increasing racial disparities in incarceration and by taking a public health approach that explicitly seeks to address root causes of violence.
Item:
City Council
April 30, 2019
Sabrina B. Landreth, City Administrator
Joint Meeting of the City Council and Safety and Services Oversight Commission
Page 2
April 17, 2019_____________________________________________________
BACKGROUND/LEGISLATIVE HISTORY
On November 4, 2014, the voters of the City of Oakland approved the Public Safety and Services Violence Prevention Act of 2014 (Measure Z) with 77.05 percent of the vote, which surpassed the 66.7 percent approval requirement. Measure Z replaced the Public Safety and Services Violence Prevention Act of 2004 (Measure Y) and maintained the existing parcel tax ranging between $51 and $100 and the 8.5 percent parking tax surcharge for a period of 10 years through December 31,2024, to improve police services, fire emergency response services as well as violence intervention and prevention strategies for at risk youth and young adults.
Measure Z Objectives and Desired Outcomes
Explicitly stated in Measure Z, the objectives are to:
1. Reduce homicides, robberies, burglaries, and gun-related violence;
2. Improve police and fire emergency 911 response times and other police services, and;
3. Invest in violence intervention and prevention strategies that provide support for at-risk youth and young adults to interrupt the cycle of violence and recidivism.
In support of objective #1 – Reduce homicides, robberies, burglaries, and gun-related violence:
Oakland Police Department (OPD) practices “Geographic Policing” or “Community Policing” by hiring, deploying and maintaining sworn police personnel who are assigned to specific geographic areas or neighborhoods.
In support of objective #2 – Improve police and fire emergency 911 response times and other police services:
OPD is committed to maintain a minimum number of sworn personnel and the Oakland Fire Department (OFD) is required to maintain adequate personnel resources to respond to fire and medical emergencies.
In support of objective #3 – Invest in violence intervention and prevention strategies that provide support for at-risk youth and young adults to interrupt the cycle of violence and recidivism:
Oakland Unite, a division of the Human Services Department (HSD), brings together and funds community-driven support for people at the center of violence using proceeds from the Safety and Services Act as well as leveraged funds. As intended by Measure Z, Oakland Unite works to interrupt the cycle of violence and recidivism by helping people seek safety, healing and growth through transformative relationships and opportunities. Half of Oakland Unite’s funding is dedicated to strategies intended to interrupt and prevent gun violence.
Oakland Unite programs provide outreach, case management, and education and employment supports for youth and young adults at the center of gun violence, and crisis response for family violence victims, commercially sexually exploited children, and victims of shootings and
Item:
City Council
April 30, 2019
Sabrina B. Landreth, City Administrator
Joint Meeting of the City Council and Safety and Services Oversight Commission
April 17, 2019________ ____________________
Page 3
homicides. By working to fulfill the third objective of Measure Z, Oakland Unite contributes to broader citywide reductions in gun violence and other serious violence.
The entire report is embeded below: