President Joe Biden might say Democrats don’t support defunding the police, but out in deep-blue Oakland, California, the defund the police movement is alive and well and in control of the city council.
In June, the Oakland City Council voted to cut $18 million from the city’s police budget and spend that money instead on a variety of social programs. However, the vote by the council was not unanimous, and Oakland-based journalist Leighton Woodhouse talked to one of the council members who voted no:
Taylor, who told me that twice as many unanswered 911 calls come from predominantly black and Latino East Oakland than the rest of the city, believes he’s fighting for what his constituents want: faster response times and safer streets. Taylor grew up in Oakland and has a business degree from Berkeley. He bristles at the ideological pretenses of his critics and says he suspects that the groups advocating for a reduced police presence are speaking to “a very narrow audience” clustered in more comfortable neighborhoods that are not as heavily impacted by crime. When defund protesters showed up to his home in June of last year, Taylor noticed that they were “a much whiter group,” and suspected they were not from East Oakland.
Woodhouse also profiles one of the defund the police supporters who actually protested outside Taylor’s house as well:
While pursuing a career in acting in Los Angeles, Brooks stumbled into political activism, which eventually brought her to Oakland. In 2018, she ran for mayor, coming in second with about a quarter of the vote.
When I asked Brooks about the two Council members — both black — who voted against the reduction in the police budget she was unambiguous in her contempt. They are “representing the interests of the police, and they’re representing the interests of development,” she said. “If they were representing the interests of the people, then they, too, should want black bodies to stop falling.”
Woodhouse then allows Taylor to respond to Brooks. “A significant amount of that movement calling for defunding without regard for those calling for service don’t reflect my community,” he said. “They’re not the ones making the two-thirds of the calls to 911.”
Homicides already jumped by 47% in Oakland in 2020, and they are set to jump by another 45% again this year. For the sake of the remaining residents of Oakland, hopefully Taylor can win more Democrats to his side.
