The Department of Violence Prevention works alongside law enforcement but separately, with a focus on preventing violent crime.
At a church in east Oakland, Congresswoman Lateefah Simon was joined by Oakland’s mayor and its chief of violence prevention — Dr. Holly Joshi — to celebrate the news.
"While the violence is lower in Oakland," said Simon, "we all know that one is too many. That every single time a member of our community passes away from any form of violence, generations are impacted."
The money will go towards a program called Operation Ceasefire, where trained staff members work with Oakland residents who may be at higher risk of violence, and connect them to resources.
That can include food, therapy, job training, or relocation assistance. Congresswoman Simon says programs like these have helped reduce gun violence in Oakland.
"These families need and they want safer communities," said Simon, "and they know that those strategies - they're not one-trick ponies..."
The 60-person department has trained staffers known as “life coaches." They act like mentors to residents at a higher risk of violence; talking with them daily and meeting about once a week.
The team also consists of people who refer residents to life coaches. They’re called “violence interrupters." They’re the first on the scene when a shooting does happen. Among the department's interrupters is Aseelah Bey.
"Once I get to the scene, I try to find the family that’s going through the crisis and then I try to give them resources, help them with the funeral," said Bey. "I keep in touch with them afterwards just to check on them. I have some clients that I’ve kept in touch with for over three years now."
According to police data, Oakland’s homicide rate reached a 25 year low last year.
That’s despite hundreds of millions of dollars in cuts to violence prevention programs across the country by the Trump administration.
Those cuts have impacted Bay Area violence prevention programming. Overall, Oakland has a gap of millions of dollars worth of federal cuts to make up for — including, but not limited to, violence prevention funding.
The new funding secured by Congresswoman Simon is slated to reach the city within a few weeks. The Department of Violence Prevention says it's going to use the money to hire more staff.
According to Chief Holly Joshi, the department seeks to reach over 350 individuals at a given time. Right now, their capacity is about half of that number.
