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OP-ED: Public Safety for Oakland — Prevention and Policing, Intervention and Enforcement

As the only Black man on Oakland’s City Council, I know firsthand that public safety is an intersectional issue. It requires a focus on the history of Oakland, racism in America, the flaws of our criminal justice system, lack of investment in new technologies, and yes, adequately resourcing our law enforcement and violence prevention teams with well-trained and community-minded men and women.

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Caption: Loren Taylor represents District 6 on Oakland’s City Council. Photo courtesy of Loren Taylor.
Caption: Loren Taylor represents District 6 on Oakland’s City Council. Photo courtesy of Loren Taylor.

By Loren Taylor

The same playgrounds I grew up on in Oakland aren’t safe for my kids today. The Town deserves better, and it starts with a detailed, multi-pronged, comprehensive approach to public safety.

As the only Black man on Oakland’s City Council, I know firsthand that public safety is an intersectional issue. It requires a focus on the history of Oakland, racism in America, the flaws of our criminal justice system, lack of investment in new technologies, and yes, adequately resourcing our law enforcement and violence prevention teams with well-trained and community-minded men and women.

For too long in Oakland, saying that we should resource police officers has been a “third rail” issue that ambitious politicians avoid. This kind of politics has gotten us nowhere, and Oaklanders are rightly sick of it.

Oakland is in the midst of a public safety crisis. In 2021, 134 people were killed in our city and we are on track to meet or surpass that number this year. Families in my City Council district account for an outsized percentage of those affected by these tragic killings. They are mourning loved ones and trying to pick up the pieces, and in the meantime, our police officers simply cannot keep up.

A recent investigative report showed that over the course of 11 months last year there were 115 instances in which Oakland police were so overwhelmed with 911 calls that they had to prioritize on the fly, sending officers only to emergencies that seemed to present imminent danger.

It is absolutely crucial that as we try to solve the root causes of crime and homicide in our city, we fix the resource gaps and staffing shortages that are adding to the chaos. We are failing if our first responders are having to decide who lives and who dies.

I reject the framing that it’s either police and enforcement or violence prevention and root causes intervention. It has long been my stance that it has to be “both-and” and not “either-or.”

I also categorically reject the idea that we have to choose between racial justice and public safety, or that it is not “progressive” to enforce our laws. There’s nothing progressive about doing nothing when Oaklanders are dying from gun violence, having their cars broken into, or feel unsafe on our streets on a daily basis.

After the murder of George Floyd, I architected and co-led Oakland’s Reimagining Public Safety Task Force to develop innovative and equitable solutions to our public safety challenges, many of which we adopted in the current city budget. But that was just the beginning.

In my campaign for mayor, I’ve proposed a comprehensive public safety plan that will address the crisis we find ourselves in. I am not afraid to introduce tough, potentially controversial, systemic reforms and investments to keep Oakland safe. If elected mayor in November, this will be my top priority.

Some of my proposed reforms will require City Council action, but during my first month in office, I will take executive actions where possible to make Oakland safer. Here are a few of those:

  • As we wait for new officers to emerge from police academies, I will immediately increase our sworn officer capacity through partnerships with other law enforcement agencies, ensuring that officers with community-facing roles (e.g., traffic enforcement) adhere to OPD commitments to constitutional policing.
  • I will deploy tools that augment surveillance monitoring and investigation capacity, including high-definition cameras, automated license plate readers, drone technology, and a criminal investigations database, working with our Privacy Advisory Commission but not allowing them to be a bottleneck on the path to improved safety.
  • For the safety of all of our children, I will establish the long-overdue formal agreement between our schools, police, and Department of Violence Prevention for improved coordination of violence prevention, crime deterrence, and emergency response in and around schools.

There’s more. I invite you to read my plan for tackling our public safety crisis and urge you to carefully consider your choice for who is best to lead The Town. It is past time that we deliver on the promise of our beloved city. With the right leadership, Oakland can be a city of dreams fulfilled.

District 6 City Councilman Loren Taylor is a proud third-generation son of Oakland, a husband, a father, an engineer, and now a candidate for Oakland mayor. Loren lives in East Oakland with his wife, Dr. Erica Taylor, and their two children. To learn more, visit lorenforoakland.com.

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Oakland Post: Week of February 5 – 11, 2025

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of February 5 – 11, 2025

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OP-ED: Like Physicians, U.S. Health Institutions Must ‘First, Do No Harm’

Coupled with their lack of government and healthcare-related experience, we are concerned these nominees will significantly undermine public health, increase the number of uninsured people, worsen health outcomes, and exacerbate health disparities. Physicians observe Hippocrates’ maxim to “First Do No Harm,”, and we urge Trump administration officials to do the same. It is critical that the leadership of HHS and its agencies make decisions based on facts, evidence, and science. Misinformation and disinformation must not guide policymaking decisions and undermine evidence-based public health strategies. Spreading these falsehoods also erodes trust in our public institutions.

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Albert L. Brooks MD. Courtesy photo.
Albert L. Brooks MD. Courtesy photo.

By Albert L. Brooks MD
Special to The Post

Presidential administrations significantly impact the health and wellbeing of our patients and communities.

Through the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the agencies within it, such as the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and the National Institutes of Health, this new administration will decide how financial resources are allocated, dictate the focus of federal research, and determine how our public health care insurance systems are managed, including the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the Children’s Health Insurance Program, the Vaccines for Children program, Medicare, and Medicaid.

The decisions made over the next four years will impact all Americans but will be felt more acutely by those most underserved and vulnerable.

As physicians, we are greatly concerned by the nominations announced by President Trump to critical healthcare related positions. Many of their previous statements and positions are rooted in misinformation.

Coupled with their lack of government and healthcare-related experience, we are concerned these nominees will significantly undermine public health, increase the number of uninsured people, worsen health outcomes, and exacerbate health disparities. Physicians observe Hippocrates’ maxim to “First Do No Harm,”, and we urge Trump administration officials to do the same.

It is critical that the leadership of HHS and its agencies make decisions based on facts, evidence, and science. Misinformation and disinformation must not guide policymaking decisions and undermine evidence-based public health strategies. Spreading these falsehoods also erodes trust in our public institutions.

Vaccines, in particular, have been a target of disinformation by some HHS nominees. In fact, research continues to confirm that vaccines are safe and effective. Vaccines go through multiple rounds of clinical trials prior to being approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for administration to the public.

Vaccines protect against life-threateningdiseasessuch as measles, polio, tetanus, and meningococcal disease and, when used effectively, have beenshowntoeliminateorsubstantiallyreducediseaseprevalenceand/orseverity.

Because of vaccine mis- and disinformation, there has been a resurgence in vaccine-preventable diseases such as measles and whooping cough, endangering those who are too young or unable to be vaccinated.

Several nominees have spread disinformation alleging that fluoride in public drinking water is harmful. In fact, fluoride in drinking water at the recommended level of 0.7 parts per million, like we have in our EBMUD water, is safe and keeps teeth strong. Because of public health interventions dating back to the 1960s that have resulted in 72.3% of the U.S. population now having access to fluoridated water, there has been a reduction in cavities by about 25% in both children and adults.

We also encourage the next administration to invest in our public health infrastructure. The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the critical role of public health agencies in preventing and responding to health crises in our communities.

Health departments at the state and local levels rely on federal funding support and technical assistance to develop public health response plans, implement public health strategies, and work with on the ground organizations to serve hard to reach communities. Public health agencies are critical for protecting everyone in our communities, regardless of income-level, insurance status, or housing status.

Health officials should also work to protect the significant improvements in insurance coverage that have occurred since the passage of theACAin 2010.According to HHS, the numberofuninsuredAmericansfellfrom48millionin2010to25.6millionin2023.

California has led the way by investing in Medi-Cal and expanding eligibility for enrollment. In fact, it reached its lowest uninsured rate ever in 2022 at 6.2%. Voters affirmed this commitment to expanding and protecting access to care in November by passing Proposition 35, which significantly expanded funding for California’s Medi-Cal program. The administration should advance policies that strengthen the ACA, Medicaid, and Medicare and improve access to affordable health care.

Regardless of the president in power, physicians will always put the best interests of our patients and communities at the forefront. We will continue to be a resource to our patients, providing evidence-based and scientifically proven information and striving to better their lives and our community’s health. We urge the new Trump administration to do the same.

Albert L. Brooks MD is the immediate past president of the Alameda-Contra Costa Medical Association, which represents 6,000 East Bay physicians.

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Oakland Post: Week of January 29 – February 4, 2025

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of January 29 – February 4, 2025

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