Where Residents In Oakland, California Stand On Defunding The Police

Published August 31, 2021 at 9:00 AM CDT

Demonstrators light candles during a 2020 protest to defund the Oakland Police Department. (Sarahbeth Maney/The San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)

The latest effort in the movement to ‘defund the police’ comes in Oakland, California. In June, the City Council voted to redirect $18 million from the Mayor’s proposed increase to the police budget.

Oakland Police Chief LeRonne Armstrong disagrees.

“I don’t think that’s what’s going to stop people from shooting people in our city,” he said.

For more than a year after the murder of George Floyd, activists called for a defunding of the police.

But does that align with what families in high-crime neighborhoods need for their streets?

Today, On Point: What residents in Oakland’s most vulnerable communities really want.

Guests

Loren Taylor, Oakland’s District 6 councilmember. Co-chair on the Reimagining Public Safety Task Force (active from September 2020 to March 2021), which provided recommendations to increase community safety through alternative responses to calls for assistance. (@lorenmtaylor)

Keisha Henderson, Oakland native. District 6 appointee for the city’s Reimagining Public Safety Taskforce.

This article was originally published on WBUR.org.