Oakland, CA lays off 80 cops

[Truck4 48]

The Oakland PD lost four members last March, shot and killed by a rape suspect.

Couple of interesting points: The city wanted the members to pay up to 9% into thier pensions and the union wanted a three year 'no layoff guarantee.'

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/07/13/BAV11EDUCC.DTL

[helicopper 1,050]

In other news from the left coast...

The city of Maywood will lay off all city employees and begin contracting police services with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department effective July 1, officials said.

In addition to contracting with the Sheriff's Department, the Maywood City Council voted unanimously Monday night to lay off an estimated 100 employees and contract with neighboring Bell, which will handle other city services such as finance, records management, parks and recreation, street maintenance and others. Maywood will be billed about $50,833 monthly, which officials said will save $164,375 annually.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2010/06/sheriffs-dept-to-patrol-maywood-while-city-employees-now-face-lay-offs.html

The Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department stopped flying last July due to budget woes. The financial crisis of the state of California trickled down to the county, said Jeff Werblun, a former deputy and pilot with the department. The Sheriff’s Department laid off about 140 full-time deputies, 200 to 300 part-time deputies, and “eliminated virtually every specialty unit,” he said.

http://www.aviationtoday.com/rw/issue/cover/Police-Trim-Hours-Tap-Grants-to-Fly_68858.html

Closer to home here on the right coast...

The impending Aug. 18 layoff of six Ewing (New Jersey) police officers in the patrol division will impact township schools and the entire police department, and the layoff of 142 Trenton cops will be felt in Ewing and other neighboring townships, Police Chief Robert Coulton advised the Township Council Monday night.

http://www.trentonian.com/articles/2010/07/13/news/doc4c3be63f6edfc253930190.txt

In the letter to the state, Scott said the cuts are necessary to tackle a budget shortfall of about $11 million. The administration expects to save about $1.5 million from the 93 layoffs, which include 40 police officers and 30 firefighters.

http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/communities/atlantic-city_pleasantville_brigantine/article_b7f5cc4c-8b9a-11df-a500-001cc4c03286.html

Ugly, ugly news!

[antiquefirelt 994]

So much for hope!

[Just a guy 493]

I guess the problem really is nation wide. Those are huge numbers of cops getting laid off. I hate to think what these towns and cities could become without proper police coverage. My thoughts and prayers are with the cops that got laid off, hopefully they will be back in the bag ASAP !

[FFEMTPD72 2]

Oakland has enormous crime issues. Not the best place to be laying off uniformed workers.

[Alpinerunner 61]

Oakland has enormous crime issues. Not the best place to be laying off uniformed workers.

Yes, if the recent riots weren't enough evidence that this is a bad idea, I don't know what would be.

[efdcapt115 1,511]

Oh you're gonna love this:

Oakland’s police chief Anthony Batts has announced that Oakland Police will not responded to 44 different crimes if planned layoffs occur at midnight. It was useful for Batts to announce the categories in advance for criminals to chose from a criminal dim sum list of free crimes including grand theft, burglary, vehicle collision, identity theft and vandalism.

If you are the victim of burglary, you will be told to make a report online and not to expect police to respond.

Here the list of free crimes in Oakland:

burglary

theft

embezzlement

grand theft

grand theft:dog

identity theft

false information to peace officer

required to register as sex or arson offender

dump waste or offensive matter

discard appliance with lock

loud music

possess forged notes

pass fictitious check

obtain money by false voucher

fraudulent use of access cards

stolen license plate

embezzlement by an employee (over $ 400)

extortion

attempted extortion

false personification of other

injure telephone/ power line

interfere with power line

unauthorized cable tv connection

vandalism

administer/expose poison to another’s

http://jonathanturley.org/2010/07/13/oakland-police-announce-they-will-not-respond-to-various-crimes-like-burglary-grand-theft-and-other-crimes/

I'll bet the first thing the gang-bangers take advantage of is the no more responding to "loud music" calls. Crank up the boom-box homey, them POlice ain't comin' no more! Wee hoo!

[Alpinerunner 61]

I find that VERY hard to believe. I believe he is saying this as a scare tactic to cause a big outcry from the public in hopes of blocking the layoffs. I'm not saying it's a bad tactic, in fact I think it's very good, I'm just saying I doubt that will ever happen.

[Just a guy 493]

I think some of those crimes are pretty funny ... "Injure Telephone/power line " ... Thats an injury call so EMS can take that, no need for police ...

" Intefere with power line " ... The way I see it, the only things that really interfere with power lines are those dam trees, and I love nature so i'm not gonna lock up a tree no matter how much it interferes with a power line.

In all honesty this was just a small attempt to lighten up a serious topic but on the real side ...

If this actually happens, Oakland will be UNLIVABLE !!!! The gangs rule there now, this is pretty much handing over the keys to the city... and forget working day tours, ALL of the midnight nonsense that doesn't get responded to will now fall in the lap of the day tour.... Unreal

[Truck4 48]

Oakland, on paper, has 790 officers. Now 710 with the layoffs. Now subtract supervisors, sick, injured, administrative/detailed officers (support services like jails, detectives, crime scene, courts, etc.) and the patrol force is likely around 300 or less. Modifications to response protocols are likely forced due to strained services. Low priority incidents being deferred is happening all over the country due to personnel cuts.

Check out the Oakland PD website's gallery of top looters:

http://www2.oaklandnet.com/Government/o/OPD/index.htm

[efdcapt115 1,511]

Oakland, on paper, has 790 officers. Now 710 with the layoffs. Now subtract supervisors, sick, injured, administrative/detailed officers (support services like jails, detectives, crime scene, courts, etc.) and the patrol force is likely around 300 or less. Modifications to response protocols are likely forced due to strained services. Low priority incidents being deferred is happening all over the country due to personnel cuts.

Check out the Oakland PD website's gallery of top looters:

http://www2.oaklandnet.com/Government/o/OPD/index.htm

Makes me think, notice how the city did the verdict before the layoff announcement....I'm just sayin'

[Truck4 48]

But Oakland is such a lovely town, I don't see why they'd need so many cops anyway:

Last Night-

Someone with a rifle opened fire from a high-rise building at a cop on a traffic stop:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/07/19/BAJJ1EGJOU.DTL&tsp=1

Sunday:

A driver, armed with a rifle, shotgun and handgun, opened fire on cops trying to pull him over for a traffic infraction.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/07/19/BAG71EG92P.DTL

Saturday:

A man armed with knives in both hands, shot and killed after ineffectively Tasered after foot pursuit:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2010/07/18/state/n133018D98.DTL&feed=rss.news

[25truck26 29]

And for your viewing pleasure. This is the shootout that occurred on the freeway on July 18.

Edited July 20, 2010 by 25truck26