Archive: Oakland City Council Wants to ‘Nurture’ Criminals — Police Chief Said That Won’t Reduce Violent Crime

First published in July 2021.

The city council in Oakland, California, diverted over $17 million from the police budget. The police chief said law enforcement needs more resources, not fewer, and residents want criminals arrested and held accountable.

Fox News reported that homicides in Oakland have gone up 91 percent, carjacking 94 percent, and assault with a firearm 68 percent. Yet leftist lawmakers decided to slash the police budget. A council member has a problem with police “locking folks up” and not giving criminal thugs “the nurturing they never had.” She said the government is attempting to do that, and the slashed budget “doesn’t begin to scratch the surface” of the societal overhaul they really want to do.

Too bad for the vulnerable and defenseless residents living in poor, violent neighborhoods. Leftists want to coddle the criminals who make their lives a living nightmare and keep them on the streets.

LeRonne Armstrong, Oakland’s police chief, said the council believes fewer police resources and more violent crime prevention will make the city safer, but he doesn’t believe you need to reduce police resources to reduce violence. Nurturing criminals won’t stop them from shooting people.

“I think that people who pick up guns and use them against other people in our community…need to be arrested and held accountable,” Armstrong said. “I believe that our community wants the same thing. When I travel throughout the city, everybody says to me they want to live in a safe community.”

Armstrong held a press conference to address the budget cut.

Watch the video below to hear what else Armstrong had to say on Fox News.