New Report: 1% of Calls to the Oakland Police Department Take Up 57% of Police Time

The report found:

1. Violence: The violent crime category made up 4.2% of all calls using the National Incident Based Response System Definition.
2. Medical: Medical Calls for Service added up to 10% of total calls (44,231) at a median of just under 42 minutes of time spent per call. This category includes:
   1. Medical (5.7%)
   2. Mental Health (2.8%)
   3. Suicide (0.4%)
   4. Welfare Check (1.4%)
3. Traffic: 12.6% of all calls for service are related to traffic. 3.8% of those calls are related to accidents with a median call time of over an hour. 3.5% are related to enforcement with a median call time of just under 24 minutes.
4. Unfounded/Hangups: 11.4% of all calls are hang-ups or are determined to be unfounded at a median call time of 0:17:31
5. Disturbances: 10.8% of all calls (47,734) are for various types of “disturbances” that include, among other subcategories, a variety of noise complaints.
6. Alarms: 4.3% of all calls for service (19,150) are generated from alarms. Of those calls, at least 65% are coded as false or cancelled.

The violent crime category made up 4.2% of all calls and included both aggravated and simple assaults to match the National Incident Based Response System (NIBRS) definition. Using only aggravated assaults for violent crimes, as done in the Uniform Crime Report Part I definition, would mean violent crimes make up just 1.6% of all calls.

“Mayor Libby and the Oakland Police are trying to weaponize attacks on Asian-American elders to make the case not to defund the Oakland Police Department. This new data clearly tells us that the vast majority of police time is spent on things we don’t need to pay cops to do. To actually keep us safe, we must invest in community resources and supports like education, housing, mental health and trauma support and living wage jobs for BIPOC Oaklanders,” said Cat Brooks, co founder of the Anti Police Terror Project and the executive director of the Justice Teams Network.

The findings of this report are included in an updated version of the Defund Oakland Police Coalition* report released today, in response to the final recommendations issued by Oakland’s Reimagining Public Safety Task Force (RPSTF). The revised recommendations include 10 new recommendations, the merging of 47 pre-existing recommendations, 44 amended recommendations, and three new supplemental reports. This report offers analysis to 147 reform possibilities, 102 of which are still viable. Additionally, the report looks at potential revenue streams to pay for these shifts in practice and new community safety programs, analyze OPD calls for service data the brand new APTP report, and highlights work already happening at the grassroots level that needs more investment.

The coalition encourages members of the public to join the next community listening session tonight at 6pm to share feedback on the recommendations before they are sent to the City Council for implementation.

* The Defund Oakland Police Coalition consists of the following groups: Anti Police-Terror Project, Arab Resource and Organizing Center, Asian Pacific Environmental Network, Bay Rising, Black Organizing Project, Causa Justa-Just Cause, Community Ready Corps, Communities United for Restorative Youth Justice, Critical Resistance, East Bay Alliance for A Sustainable Economy, Ella Baker Center, Oakland Rising, and the Urban Peace Movement

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