Oakland budget reduces police overtime after Measure E fails

Oakland’s newly approved midcycle budget reduces police overtime and patrol funding after voters rejected Measure E, a parcel tax city leaders said would have helped close the budget deficit. 

The roughly $4 billion budget, approved June 12 in a 6-2 vote, reduces the Oakland Police Department (OPD) budget from about $410 million to about $375 million—roughly an 8.5% cut. It also reduces overtime by $648,269 for fiscal year 2026-27, including $533,855 in sworn officer overtime. It maintains funding for 678 officer positions despite ongoing staff shortages.

The $192 parcel tax, championed by Mayor Barbara Lee, was sponsored by labor organizations such as the Service Employees International Union Local 1021, the International Association of Firefighters Local 55, and the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers. It was designed to raise $34 million a year for nine years, creating funds for city services like police, homeless outreach and public safety.

Although Lee’s proposed budget did not assume Measure E would pass, she argued that the additional revenue would have allowed the city to hire 22 officers, launch another police academy, replace aging fire engines and preserve shelter beds.

Labor unions and advocacy groups raised more than $1 million to support Measure E, while business groups, real estate interests and other civic organizations opposed it. With  the parcel tax defeated, city leaders must now close Oakland’s structural deficit without the projected revenue, renewing debate over police spending and public safety. 

District 4 Councilmember Janani Ramachandran said the measure’s defeat has not left Oakland without funding, but highlighted the city’s lack of recurring revenue.  

“There is a common misconception that Measure E failing means the city has no money,” Ramachandran said. “We actually have many positive fund balances. We have $32 million in the general fund positive balance ending; we had many positive balances in a number of our funds that we use. But a positive fund balance is not a recurring source of revenue.”

Ramachandran, Brown, Unger and Jenkins proposed amendments to the mayor’s proposed budget that focused on the end of the use of one-time expected revenues for ongoing expenses. 

The majority of the police budget cuts come at the expense of patrol, which makes up most of the OPD’s operations. OPD said this means staffing for specialized units such as Community Resource Officers has been reduced, while those units are being reassigned to maintain adequate patrol staffing. They also said that staffing shortages are covered through overtime, which dips into their $36,884,212 allowance for fiscal year 2026-2027.

OPD media representatives wrote in an email, “The Department closely monitors overtime expenditures to ensure resources are used responsibly while maintaining staffing necessary to respond to emergencies, address violent crime, and meet critical public safety needs.”

While financial pressures led to 19 civilian layoffs last year, police overtime continued climbing. Oakland North reported that one officer earned nearly a half-million dollars in overtime, while OPD exceeded its overtime budget by roughly $31 million.

Police officials have argued that overtime remains necessary to meet minimum staffing levels while the department continues struggling to recruit and retain officers.

The Oakland Coalition for Police Accountability (OCPA) has issued a statement condemning this overspending and calling for stronger financial oversight. Millie Cleveland, president of the coalition, said that the city council’s unwillingness to respond to community input about policing demonstrates a lack of regard for Oakland’s best interests.

“It’s not just a financial issue; it’s an operational issue,” she said.

A 2025 city auditor’s report found structural staffing issues resulting in dispatcher vacancies and slower 9-1-1 response times. The OCPA’s public statement calls for the civilianization of 38 full-time sworn officers, arguing that administrative roles could be assigned to civilians to free up more officers for patrol and emergency response.

Instead, the new budget maintained funding for 678 sworn officer positions. As of May 14, however, only 610 of those positions were filled, and 71 sworn employees were on paid administrative or medical leave. Measure NN, passed in 2024, requires 700 full-time officers. Overtime is being used to fill the gaps.

Ramachandran said the city has invested in new hiring campaigns through marketing and expanded cadet programs, while attributing staffing struggles to an aging police force.

OPD attributed hiring struggles to a variety of factors, including increased competition between law enforcement agencies, public criticism of the police and a meticulous hiring process.

A 2025 report, co-presented by the Service Employees International Union, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, and International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, concluded police overtime hours continue to rise even when officer staffing levels increase or as crime rates decline. The report comes as Oakland’s annual crime report shows a 25% decrease in crime against a five-year average, and a consistent fall in violent crime since 2021.

Groups like the Anti Police Terror Project (APTP) in Oakland have called for further defunding of police services and reinvestment into public safety and community funds. They propose a progressive business tax and fundraising through public-private partnerships to support public safety, social services and community resources. The APTP published a 2021 report rejecting the mere need for a “culture shift” and calling for radical restructuring to the city’s budget.

George Galvis, executive director for Communities United for Restorative Youth Justice, endorsed these statements in the report and said, “The public’s will is to fund the services, not the police.”

The city council also approved a $200,000 reduction to the Community Police Review Agency, which investigates complaints involving police use of force, in-custody deaths, discriminatory profiling and other allegations of misconduct. The Police Commission saw a 12% cut of over $700,000. The Office of the Inspector General was moved to a different department.

The budget also preserves funding for replacement fire engines, temporary shelter beds, illegal-dumping equipment, and other city services while maintaining reserve funds and paying down pension liabilities.

The $4 billion budget is technically balanced despite Measure E’s defeat, but Oakland still faces projected structural deficits of $115 to $130 million annually through 2030.