No Strategy, No Problem
[September 13, 2008]

     Whew, at last we're going to get a Public Safety Strategic Plan....  We need one.  After all, Our Murder rate is now 70% higher than in 2004; our Robberies are 79% higher, and our Aggravated Assaults are 54% higher.  We do indeed have a crisis.

     "Arnold Perkins asked me to invite you to the community meeting he is holding tomorrow night from 6:30-8:30 pm at the Lakeview Garden Center to present the Public Safety Districts strategy to the community.  He hopes you can attend to hear their feedback first-hand."  ...a distributed email invitation from City Hall.

            I regret being out of town and not able to attend the meeting to hear the presentation.  However, I read the fifteen page Public Safety Districts Strategy and I do have some feedback to offer...

            Well, I can say this right off the bat... If Robert Bobb is in town to root out mediocrity (and worse) in Oakland's government service apparatus he can view the innermost example of it in this narrative bramble-bush of acronym bureaucracy.  Words fail me in any effort I might draw to describe the utter failure in this document to address Oakland's "Public Safety Crisis." 

            Excuse me... Has anyone seen OPD?  Our Police Department, our paid police force, isn't mentioned anywhere in the "plan" for Public Safety Strategies."  The over two hundred million dollars we're paying for police service isn't anywhere within the "plan."  Come to think of it... our Violent Crime crisis isn't mentioned either.

            As I picked up the "final draft," I thought about the April 22 Tucker/Kozicki/Edgerly "Crime Fighting Strategic Plan."  It also had fifteen pages, but it was most certainly not a plan.  I wrote in detail about it earlier, but suffice it so say that I was eagerly anticipating this new Public Safety Director's version of a "plan" to counter the crime crisis in Oakland.  After all, many of us have been providing excruciating details of the problem and offering educated definitive solutions for many months.

            Ouch... this effort is worse than the last one, and the one before that.  It's like entering a fog and finding a vacuum.  There is no there there, in terms of anything to give citizens hope or promise that anything is going to be done about the "Paradigm Escalation" of Violent Crimes plaguing Oakland.  In fact, there is (a) no mention of a problem, (b) no mention of OPD as a crime-fighting force, (c) and not a single tactic to counter a single enumerated crime.

            As if to beg indulgence, the "Strategy" document mentions "Public Safety" sixty-one times, but never indicates anything is wrong.  The word "neighborhood" or "neighbor" gets mentioned about forty-two times.  It uses some form of the word "community" as in community-policing and community-engagement about thirty-seven times.  "Strategy" comes in fourth place with twenty-four mentions.  OPD is mentioned five times, and never in a crime-fighting context.  In fact, I only found reference to the word "crime" twice, on pages 4 and 10.  The use of the "crime" word seems hushed, as if it shouldn't be discussed.  In any case, our Police Department is not mentioned in the context of the word "crime."  Ssshhhhhhhh....

            On page 4, it is mentioned that the NCPC's will "look beyond crime prevention" to "address a broader range of neighborhood issues."  Imagine that... let's ignore crime and look beyond that.

            On Page 12, the new "strategy" is to have something called the PSCC that now "addresses major crime and violence issues."  That's it.  Maybe the OPD and ordinary police officers are simply not needed anymore.  Just to make sure we no longer have to rely on OPD, or the failure of OPD leadership, it says, "[the PSCC] is co-led by the City's Public Safety Director and a County Representative." 

            That's all folks... no mention of crime or OPD's role.  Neither seems to exist in the current "Public Safety Districts Strategy."

            Not true, you say?  Oh, on page 8 there is a drawing of the new "Geographic Policing" plan?  Odd, there are three Districts (SDS Areas 1,2,3), but no mention of OPD.  We can find CEDA, PWA, OPR, "ETC," NCPC, NW, OAC, Area PSCC, Citywide PSPC, and arrows going all over the place... but not a single cop.  It isn't clear who is in charge, but if it isn't clear that we have a problem, maybe that's consistent.

            There is not one mention of enhancing existing police efficiencies -- more and faster response to calls for service, increasing investigations, or anything meant to improve police services.  Oh, there is brief mention about Measure Y Problem Solving Officers, but not in any tactical sense.  How can they best serve the neighborhoods, coordinate with the rest of the OPD, meet the mission of lowering crime, and so on?  Nope, not a single mention.  In fact, lowering crime isn't mentioned at all.

            There is repeated reference to "collaboration" and "accountability," but no specifics on what will be collaborated or accounted for.  "Empower" is a redundancy that doesn't seem to connect what, who, how, why or when anything will be empowered.  

            The only real reference I could find to better strategize the existing OPD is to run cops through "cultural competency training," and perhaps even be instrumental in the "Peace Curriculum."  There is no explanation.  It looks like the only crime fighting effort mentioned specifically is by focusing on "conflict mediation."  Maybe the answer is in understanding "risk and resiliency factors" or "anti-violence messaging."  

            In Goal #3, the "Infrastructure for Coordination," there is a vague mention of possibly homicides or drug use occurring in Oakland.  OPD is mentioned in Scenario #4 (continuing serious violence and a recent homicide) as standing by helpless.  Not to fear... "The Public Safety Director sends this issue to the Area SDS Team and the Area Public Safety Coordinating Council to address."   There is apparently no need for police action, as the "Citywide Policy Council will "...think[s] about broader ways to support community empowerment..."

            The traditional 35 Beat police response system that over 300 cops are assigned to is not mentioned, as neither are all the other vital specialized tasks that [should] comprise our OPD.  The part-time 57 PSO Beat Measure Y System is given due notice, very briefly; although no one mentions that if it currently [grossly inefficiently] takes 12 cops to man a regular Beat, that likewise any of the 57 PSO Beats will only be staffed 1/12th of the time.  Or, if citizens want to depend on 57 full time PSO Beats they will have to increase the number of PSO cops to 684.  Or, continuing this numbers game, under Chief Tucker's current levels of efficiency, the 63 Measure Y cops will only be able to cover 5 Beats 24/7 -- unless the criminals agree to be active only during the half-week 12-hour shift that each PSO Officer works.  This is not promising.

            The big climax of the "Strategy" plan is on page 15.  Oakland citizens, although perhaps in a stupor about the level of violence in Oakland, are not likely to be satisfied with the Public Safety Director's spotlight on answers...  The degree of public safety innovation and change is underwhelming:  "Learn your neighbor's name," "Organize a block party," "paint out graffiti," "create a newsletter," "start a book club," "join a parent group,"  "help an elderly neighbor," "call in burned out street lights."  Please take the time to read the conclusion of this report to see if it's all just a joke.

            The final strategy on the final page is "Alert the editor of your newspaper to a community story not being told."  Hello... Oakland is in the grips of a "Paradigm Escalation" of Violent Crimes that has accelerated as in no other period of Oakland's history... and we are all ostriches with heads in the oblivious sand while our butts are broad targets tempting violence.  Yes, Violent Crimes are up four years in a row for only the second time in recorded history, and at the fastest pace ever [+61% from the 5,150 in 2004 to 8,300 in 2008].  We could use a good "Plan" with hopeful strategies and inspiring tactics.  Please...

ronoz