Oakland wins fed grant to hire 25 police officers

[alp227]

Source: San Francisco Chronicle

(09-28) 14:09 PDT Oakland -- A $10.7 million grant from the U.S. Department of Justice will enable Oakland to hire 25 police officers for three years, bolstering a force that has shrunken in the bad economy.

Oakland was one of 238 U.S. cities to receive a justice grant. Police Chief Anthony Batts proposed using the funds to hire officers to focus on youth violence, human trafficking and juvenile delinquency around four middle schools.

Batts said the officers are expected create safe routes to school, monitor parolees near schools, mentor youth and develope 4-block safety zones around the schools, which have not yet been selected.

Among the goals, Batts said, would be to change the perception youth have of police so that "police officers are seen in a positive way."

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/09/28/BALC1LAPHR.DTL

[LeftyMom]

1. Awesome! Now they won't have to outsource so much police brutality to the BART cops!

:eyes: