Bad Idea - Defunding the APD

Dear Mayor, Councilmembers and Citizens:

I write to supplement my recent email by addressing your role as leaders. The issues facing Alameda and this country are significant. But they also provide a unique opportunity. In order to seize that opportunity, you will have to look at the bigger picture with the goal of a long lasting solution. The initial response would be to talk to your constituents and that is a great place to start. But in order to overcome the divisiveness and systemic issues, you will need to consider and address the needs of the various and diverse community members. That is where true leadership come in - to not do the easy quick fix. But to take the time and put in the effort and create a program and approach that will address the needs and solve the problem.
Your role as a leader also necessitates that you understand the implications and consequences of your decisions. Solving one problem and creating another - is not effective or productive. I speak from experience as your Alameda Police Chief for nearly 12 years. I know this City and I want to make sure that you understand consequences. I do not believe that any of you want to make this City unsafe. It will take some work and collective effort, but I do believe that we can achieve the various goals without sacrificing the well being of our residents.
Keeping the need to understand consequences and implications in mind, I share some information for you to consider:
The Patrol Division is the most important division for the sake of overall public safety needs. The number of officers on patrol has been significantly reduced from the authorized 46 to 34 to staff an entire 24 hour period. Other units within the department have also been reduced. The current implication of that right now is that there is an inadequate number of officers to provide the necessary service to our citizens. Any further cuts will only further create a dangerous situation for our city.
Right now, there are only two detective sergeants and two detectives assigned to investigate crimes and soon will be three. Existing investigators currently have over 250 open crime-cases to investigate. That means there are not existing resources to solve many crimes and that effects your and your loved ones in Alameda. Even in Alameda there are murderers,

robberies, rapes, burglaries and also other minor crimes. Not only is justice failing to be served, but the perpetrators are out there repeating the crimes. Any further reductions will significantly and further dangerously impact the situation and our residents.
Additionally, total authorized departmental strength for sworn positions is at 88. Presently, that number is down to 72 or minus 16 sworn positions down. This already low number will continue to go down. To put this into perspective, when I was chief of police the authorized strength was 112 - that is 40 positions less! It is my professional opinion, as your former chief and with nearly 40 years in law-enforcement, that you cannot safely protect the citizens of Alameda with such a reduction. And this is the existing situation. Any further proposed cuts would make that situation catastrophically worse.
Now the council has placed a hiring freeze which can be additionally terrible and detrimental as it takes well over a year to properly train a certified officer to be on patrol. This will further reduce that number.
These existing cuts present a compromised safety situation for the citizens of Alameda. And this is all BEFORE any additional cuts of up to 42% the budget!
It is now to the point that citizens may not get a prompt response to a 911 call. And the delay will only get worse with any further cuts. I suggest, upon reflection, you determine that when an Alameda resident calls 911 and there must be an available officer to show up in a timely fashion
In summary, the following is happening and will get much worse with any proposed cuts:
*Inability to handle calls for service *Inability to investigate crimes throughly
*De-emphasis on traffic enforcement resulting in unsafe streets. (Covid19 reductions aside). When Patrol Division is understaffed Traffic officers out of necessity will be transferred to Patrol.
Bottom line, this is a call for residents of Alameda to take an active part in letting members of the City Council know their reaction to the current

situation and the actions proposed. I believe the universal perception will be that this reduction in services, existing and proposed, to downsize the department creates danger to the safety of our citizens. Yes, there are problems to be solved. But let’s look at the bigger picture and create a solution without creating another problem.
Remember, your police department is the guardian of your safety and an important cog in the machinery of our community and our Democracy.

Burny Matthews
Alameda Police Chief (retired)