Mayor Lee's Public Safety Priorities

Mayor Barbara Lee is committed to making Oakland safer for every resident. The effort is paying off. As of April 2026, violent crime is down 22%, homicides are down 39%, and other types of crime are also falling. This is happening because Mayor Lee brought together police, violence prevention workers, crisis responders, and community members to tackle public safety as a team. She has invested real money into this work — working with the City Council to include funding for five new OPD police academies, $1.4 million to reduce sideshows, and $700,000 to fight human trafficking. She also partnered with the California Highway Patrol to put more officers in high-crime areas. Thanks to the Ceasefire focused deterrence program, Oakland is now seeing some of the lowest homicide and shooting numbers in decades. 

Mayor Lee knows that true safety comes from giving people — especially young people — opportunities to succeed. She is expanding the Mayor's Summer Youth Employment Program with $1.5 million in grants to help more Oakland youth find jobs. She also brought back the OPD Cadet Program, which gives young adults paid training and a path into public safety careers, starting this May. Mayor Lee recently released a report with practical ideas for reducing gun violence across the Bay Area, following a regional conference she hosted with mayors from across the region. There is still more work to do, but Oakland is moving in the right direction — and Mayor Lee is not stopping until every neighborhood feels safe.

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