Oakland Laying Off 200 Police

It’s official. After toying with the idea for several months, the Oakland City Council has decided to send layoff notices to 200 police officers. Oakland, facing a $42 million budget deficit for the coming year, seems to have few choices but the layoffs are expected to be widely unpopular in a city that has been struggling with violent crime for years.

In 2008, Oakland averaged 1968 violent crimes per 100,000 people, a rate more than double that of neighboring San Francisco and more than quadruple the national average.

The city council will have one final opportunity to rescind the notices during a June 24th budget meeting.