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Oakland’s Alternative to Police Response – MACRO - Cost Oakland Taxpayers $16 Million and Responded to Just 26 Calls. - That’s $615,384 Per Call. -

Feb 21, 2023
                                                                        
Contact: Oakland Police Officers' Association
Phone: (510) 834-9670 
Email: policeofficers@opoa.org
February 21, 2023 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

Oakland’s Alternative to Police Response – MACRO - Cost Oakland Taxpayers $16 Million and Responded to Just 26 Calls. - That’s $615,384 Per Call. -    

The Oakland Police Department Received Over 1,000,000 Calls for Help in 2022; MACRO Responded to Merely 26 of Them.    

OAKLAND, CA – A front-page story in the Eastbay Times yesterday laid bare the failure of Oakland’s alternative to police response: Mobile Assistance Community Responders of Oakland (MACRO). MACRO is a $16 million police alternative program that responded to just 26 calls in 2022.

“An Oakland patrol officer answers more calls in a single shift than what MACRO does in an entire year,” said Oakland Police Officers’ Association President Barry Donelan. Donelan continued, “$16 million was removed from the police department for MACRO, and it has failed to deliver on what was promised. The program is a gigantic waste of money that needs immediate overhaul.”  

City leaders should adopt the following three-point plan to improve MACRO’s responsiveness and effectiveness: 
  1. Do what was promised. - MACRO should exclusively take the citizens’ calls for assistance that they promised, reducing the weight on the overburdened police department.  
  2. Residents should know how to call MACRO. - Immediately publish a telephone number for residents to call seeking MACRO assistance and response.  
  3. Be transparent with taxpayer funds. - The Oakland city council public safety committee should hold a hearing into MACRO’s effectiveness.
About the Oakland Police Officers’ Association: The Oakland Police Officers’ Association (OPOA) represents all sworn members 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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