OPD Could Cut 200 Men in Blue

Wednesday, Jun 16, 2010 | Updated 12:45 PM PDT

Josh Keppel

O.P.D. was prowling around too, shutting down the event to anyone who arrived later than 10:30 p.m.

The Oakland City Council voted Tuesday night to prepare layoff notices for 200 police officers to help address the city's $31.5 million budget gap.

But City Council President Jane Brunner said today that the council's vote was only preliminary and that a final vote on the city's budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1 won't be until June 24.

Brunner was one of three council members who abstained from voting Tuesday night. The others were Larry Reid and Rebecca Kaplan.

Five council members voted in favor of the proposal: Ignacio De La Fuente, Jean Quan, Pat Kernighan, Desley Brooks and Nancy Nadel.

De La Fuente said today that the city has to consider laying off 200 of its 776 current officers because it faces "a real budget crisis" that necessitates cuts in all city departments.

He said that if the city doesn't start cutting its budget now, its fiscal problems will multiply in future years.

De La Fuente said Oakland currently faces a $53 million budget gap for the 2011-12 fiscal year and a $65 million gap in fiscal 2012-13.

He said the city must consider laying off police officers because police and fire department costs constitute 75 percent of the city's budget.

De La Fuente said the city needs to consider trimming the Police Department because it has a $200 million budget and the city pays about $200,000 a year for each officer in salaries and benefits.