In this Saturday, June 19, 2021, photo, officers work the scene of a shooting in Oakland, Calif. A 22-year-old man was killed and five others were wounded in a shooting in Oakland near the city’s Juneteenth celebration, though it wasn’t known whether the violence was connected with the event, police said. (Dylan Bouscher/Bay Area News Group)
OAN Newsroom
UPDATED 6:57 AM PT – Tuesday, June 29, 2021
The Oakland City Council voted to defund their police department and strip away another $18.4 million from their budget. The council approved the measure in a seven-to-two vote last week, which will go into effect within the next two years.
This decision came despite the fact that the homicide rate skyrocketed more than 314 percent after the initial budget cut. While displeased with the vote, Oakland Police Chief LeRonne Armstrong had this to say:
“We find ourselves in a crisis. We find ourselves reeling from a weekend of violence where we have seen four homicides over a three-day period. It now has us currently at 65 homicides for the year — that’s a 90 percent increase compared to last year.”
Oakland Police Chief LeRonne Armstrong speaks about rising crime in his city and the city council cutting millions away from his department’s budget:
“Today, we find ourselves in a crisis…Crime is out of control in the city of Oakland.”pic.twitter.com/lcZ9kbNUFN
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) June 28, 2021
Political members like Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf has also spoken out against the vote while warning the force could lose up to 50 officer positions at a time where there’s an epidemic of violence.
