Gov. Newsom approves additional law enforcement support for Oakland
OAKLAND, Calif. (KGO) -- Gavin Newsom announced Wednesday that additional law enforcement support from the state is coming to the City of Oakland.
The announcement comes just one day after the president of the Oakland Chinatown Chamber of Commerce requested that the governor declare a state of emergency. The mayor of Oakland then made a formal request for additional law enforcement support which will be granted.
"The mayor and I just had a conversation about a more formal request that she has made of my office and I told her she can count on that request being received," said Governor Newsom referring to a request made by Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf for additional law enforcement support in Oakland due to escalating violence.
"We are responding to the demands from our residents for more law enforcement safety and I am going to continue to look for every resource," says Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf.
Schaaf's formal request came after Chinatown Chamber of Commerce President Carl Chan sent the governor's office a letter requesting that a state of emergency be declared in wake of recent violence on city streets.
"We want you to bring in the California Highway Patrol," said Chan.
The state of emergency will not be declared but the governor says the state is investing more than $400 million to address street crimes and hate crimes statewide. Much of that money is being offered to cities in the form of grants.
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"So all of those supports are new, all of those supports are available, and additional law enforcement support will be forthcoming into Oakland," says Newsom.
That support will come in the form of CHP patrols and they will patrol commercial corridors and International Boulevard. The news comes a day after Oakland's Chief of Police LeRonne Armstrong talked of the challenge and importance of having enough officers on the streets.
"You got to have enough resources to be able to respond if you don't you potentially send a message to those that want to commit a crime that Oakland is the place to do it and that's the narrative that we want to fight against," says Armstrong.
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