Suddenly everyone in Oakland is tough on crime. Or at least it seems that way if you listen to the rhetoric. Chip Johnson of the Chronicle isn’t convinced, however. In his column today, he asks where the Oakland city council has been ever since city voters passed the cop-hiring Measure Y in 2004. Meanwhile, city councilwoman Jane Brunner, who is running for re-election, said it ain’t the city council’s fault. “I think it’s the chief that needed to come forward,” she told the Chron. “The mayor is his boss. The council’s been asking for a plan for recruitment for some time.”
While more police are clearly necessary in Oakland, it would be nice to hear someone advance an intelligent plan for what to do with the new officers. Johnson wants to them to stop-and-frisk suspected criminals, but most citizens would probably just like to to get a prompt response the next time they call the police for help.
