OAKLAND, Calif. – A new report is raising questions about the Oakland Police Department’s finances as city leaders push to hire more officers despite a budget shortfall.
According to the San Francisco Chronicle, Oakland hopes to add as many as 200 police officers. But the city lacks the funding to do so, in part because the department is paying millions of dollars in salaries to roughly 100 officers who are on extended leave.
Some of those officers are out for medical reasons, while others are sidelined due to ongoing investigations into their conduct, including allegations of excessive force, the report said.…