September 28, 2020                                                                          Contact: Oakland Police Officers' Association

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:                                                                                               Phone: (510) 834-9670 

                                                                                                                                 Email: policeofficers@opoa.org

OAKLAND – In a blistering letter, the Oakland Police Officers’ Association (OPOA) demanded immediate actions from Oakland City Council and Police Commission, saying they are allowing violence and murders to spin out of control in Oakland and have failed to call for an end to violence.  

The letter was sent in advance of a rare joint session of the Council and Commission at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 29 (https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86487030367). The meeting coincides with the release today of new crime statistics that demonstrate the substantial increase in violent crime. 

New crime statistics show a 42% increase year-over-year in shootings and murders in Oakland. So far in 2020 there have been 71 (UCR) murders in Oakland compared to 53 at the same time in 2019. Oakland crime statistics year-to-date are attached along with a summary of reports of gunfire.  

“The City Council and Police Commission sit safely at home viewing the world through Zoom, but the reality of Oakland streets is marked by blood, murder, and violence. That is what the citizens and the police are experiencing,” said Oakland Police Officers' Association President Barry Donelan.

He pointed to the failure of the City to replace officers who have left or retired as well as city policies prohibiting police from stopping suspects on probation or parole.  

Donelan and the OPOA’s letter to the City was highly critical of Council and Commission members who didn’t speak out against protesters that violently attacked police Friday night Sept. 25 while two people were shot to death and two others wounded by gun violence.

“We can’t be helping murder and violence victims at the same time we are being attacked in downtown Oakland by activists with bottles cans and dangerous objects,” he said. “Where is the leadership in Oakland to denounce this violence against community members and the cops?”

“We expect leadership from Oakland officials, but to date there has been nothing but silence. Silence is complicity,” he added. 

Donelan said Oakland is a very dangerous point as inmates from jails and prisons have been released due to COVID-19 and they are adding to the already violent and dangerous situation.  

“The City’s leaders must stand up and decry the violence. They must be willing to join the police officers and address the overwhelming violence in our community. That is their job and they must take responsibility for it,” Donelan said.

Donelan laid out three steps the City Council and Police Commission can take now to address the violence and work with the Oakland Police Department. The OPOA letter demands:

1. The Council and Commission call for a halt to the violence on the streets against residents and police officers alike.

2. The Alameda County District Attorney charge those arrested from perpetrating violence in our community. 

3. Review the City’s and Commission’s own policies to assess the real impacts on violence and address the police department’s continued attrition of officers through transfer to other cities and retirement.   

Donelan urged the Council and Commissioners “to leave the comfort of your computers and home offices. Please join Oakland Police Officers, shoulder to shoulder, on the streets of Oakland as we responded to violent crime and the devastation it creates in our community.”

Click for Link to Letter to Council and Commission 

About the Oakland Police Officers’ Association: The Oakland Police Officers’ Association (OPOA) represents all sworn members at all ranks within the Oakland Police Department. Representing the hardest working Police Officers in America. The OPOA can be found on the Web at www.opoa.org.

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