EXCERPT:
LEE: “Yes, Reverend, those statistics aren’t the correct statistics. When you look at the FBI report, Oakland in the scheme of things, is number 17 or number 18 on its list. And so there’s a lot of misinformation and disinformation about Oakland. And what would be helpful, of course, is funding our applications and our requests for more work with regard to our Department of Violence Prevention. We are trying to get to 700 police officers. We have a voter initiative that passed, that wanted and directed us to get to 700. We’re on that path. And yes, we are strained, our budget, of course, some jurisdictions are providing $75,000 signing bonus, but retention is extremely important. And so the support from the federal government for retention and for recruitment would be welcome. Also to help us invest more in our Department of Violence Prevention. But the crime rate is coming down even in spite of these challenges. So, it’s all hands on deck. We’re working with our organizations to help recruit from inside of Oakland. We have many young people who are ready to go into the academies. We funded five new academies this year in our budget. We funded — if we have an issue, we don’t sweep our challenges under the rug with sideshows. And so we funded, finally, which was not in the budget before, an additional — a new investment in sideshow prevention. And so we’re moving forward in spite of our challenges. But we want people to understand that.”
