For five years now, Oakland has struggled with immense budget deficits. The city’s most recent financial forecast shows budget gaps hovering around $120 million each year until 2030, forcing major cuts to spending unless the city finds new revenues.
One major source of overspending in the city is the police department. By far the most expensive city service, the Oakland Police Department’s $386 million budget this year is about 19% of Oakland’s total spending. And each year, OPD has come under scrutiny for its runaway overtime spending, routinely blowing past its approved levels by millions of dollars. Last fiscal year, the Department spent over $55 million on overtime. Thirty-one million of this was over budget.
According to Huy Nguyen, president of the Oakland Police Officers Association — the city’s police union — OPD’s ongoing staffing shortage is driving overtime…