Oakland City Council may consider new ideas for public safety at special meeting
By Keith Burbank
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OAKLAND, Calif. - Members of the Oakland City Council Public Safety Committee voted Tuesday to seek the full council's input on the recommendations of Reimagining Public Safety Taskforce rather than approving them.
Committee members made their decision late Tuesday afternoon and hope to have the full council provide input at a special meeting May 4. That meeting has not been scheduled officially.
At least a dozen community members spoke in favor of the recommendations and/or those favored by the Anti Police-Terror Project and Defund Police Coalition. Those recommendations may reduce the Police Department's budget. Police, on the other hand, wonder why the City Council is talking about reducing the police budget given that the city has seen more than three times the number of homicides this year compared with last year.