Connect with us

Activism

OPINION: MACRO, Oakland’s Civilian Policing Unit, Is Underutilized. Why?

The Coalition for Police Accountability hears from residents who associate CPA with the community advocacy and development of MACRO and are disappointed and concerned. We hear from MACRO responders who feel voiceless and frustrated. We hear from City employees who see obstacles unaddressed. We receive calls from people who hope that CPA can help them get an elusive MACRO response to a crisis because the only phone number they can find in connection to MACRO is ours!  

Published

on

Oakland’s MACRO was intended to relieve OPD officers from necessary but mundane calls that don’t require responses by armed officers, like writing a traffic citation. iStock image by N. Nesterenko.
Oakland’s MACRO was intended to relieve OPD officers from necessary but mundane calls that don’t require responses by armed officers, like writing a traffic citation. iStock image by N. Nesterenko.

By Millie Cleveland

In 2018, after Oakland police officers, guns, and cruisers amassed to respond to a “dark-skinned” homeless man asleep with a gun nearby, Joshua Pawlik was shot as he stirred. In the aftermath, Oaklanders began advocating for an alternative to police for certain 911 calls.

The Mobile Assistance Community Responders of Oakland (MACRO) Program is designed to provide a more appropriate, non-police response to non-violent/non-felony calls; a model unique to Oakland; a model that Improves OPD response time to urgent calls; a model based on community members helping their own communities; and, a program that can save the City money and lives, web sources say.

Many Oaklanders supported the development of MACRO utilizing community members who could provide support and de-escalate crises.

At the same time, officers wanted relief from low-level calls so they could focus on high-priority calls and serious crimes. With fanfare and press releases, the City Council passed a resolution to begin a pilot program to demonstrate that this approach could save money by redirecting police resources and providing more effective community support for low-level crises.

After 2020, other cities also implemented non-police crisis programs that are now responding to thousands of 911 calls, instead of police. Tragically, MACRO is not.

As the 18-month pilot ends, MACRO is being dispatched to only three or four 911 calls per day!

MACRO responds to approximately 10% of the emergency calls sent to similar programs in other jurisdictions. Why? Here are some of the reasons.

  • There is no separate number to request a MACRO response.
  • MACRO responders have not received adequate training, support, or supervision.
  • Oaklanders selected for the MACRO Advisory Board because of their expertise in community resources, referrals, and education have been sidelined. The meetings are not open to the public, despite promises.
  • There has been no community education and engagement campaign. The community excitement that created MACRO has never been harnessed – indeed it is actively rejected.
  • There is no pilot evaluation plan.

The Coalition for Police Accountability hears from residents who associate CPA with the community advocacy and development of MACRO and are disappointed and concerned.

We hear from MACRO responders who feel voiceless and frustrated. We hear from City employees who see obstacles unaddressed. We receive calls from people who hope that CPA can help them get an elusive MACRO response to a crisis because the only phone number they can find in connection to MACRO is ours!

Although Oakland politicians highlight MACRO while campaigning or discussing public safety, they have done little to oversee MACRO, require answers to residents’ concerns, or keep campaign promises on specific steps so MACRO succeeds.

We thank city leaders for increasing funding to MACRO in the new budget but to use that money effectively, responsible governance is needed. MACRO is easily fixable if politicians stop treating it as a campaign talking point and instead as a real program that begs for committed attention and problem-solving.

We urge city leadership to:

  1. Assign senior-level staff to convene a working group of all city departments involved with MACRO implementation to ensure effective collaboration.
  2. Require regular reports to the City Council and the public safety committee including tracking of data and issues, how to increase dispatched referrals, and instituting a meaningful program evaluation.
  3. Consider moving MACRO directly under the city administrator for comprehensive management.
  4. Make the Community Advisory Board a regular city commission, appointed by the City Council and with public meetings under the Brown Act.
  1. Hundreds of Oaklanders worked to develop MACRO and stand ready to help. Currently, they are locked out.

If city leaders engage to ensure MACRO’s success, it can become the program that Oaklanders remain excited and hopeful for.

Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Activism

Oakland Post: Week of June 4 – 10, 2025

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of June 4-10, 2025

Published

on

To enlarge your view of this issue, use the slider, magnifying glass icon or full page icon in the lower right corner of the browser window.

Continue Reading

Activism

Remembering George Floyd

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — Minnesota State Attorney General Keith Ellison acknowledges that the Floyd case five years ago involved a situation in which due process was denied, and five years later, the president is currently dismissing “due process. “The Minnesota Atty General also says, “Trump is trying to attack constitutional rule, attacking congressional authority and judicial decision-making.” George Floyd was an African American man killed by police who knocked on his neck and on his back, preventing him from breathing.

Published

on

Mural showing the portrait of George Floyd in Mauerpark in Berlin. To the left of the portrait the lettering "I can't Breathe" was added, on the right side the three hashtags #GeorgeFloyd, #Icantbreathe and #Sayhisname. The mural was completed by Eme Street Art (facebook name) / Eme Free Thinker (signature) on 29 May 2020. (Wikimedia Commons)
Mural showing the portrait of George Floyd in Mauerpark in Berlin. To the left of the portrait the lettering "I can't Breathe" was added, on the right side the three hashtags #GeorgeFloyd, #Icantbreathe and #Sayhisname. The mural was completed by Eme Street Art (facebook name) / Eme Free Thinker (signature) on 29 May 2020. (Wikimedia Commons)

By April Ryan
BlackPressUSA Newswire

“The president’s been very clear he has no intentions of pardoning Derek Chauvin, and it’s not a request that we’re looking at,” confirms a senior staffer at the Trump White House. That White House response results from public hope, including from a close Trump ally, Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene. The timing of Greene’s hopes coincides with the Justice Department’s recent decision to end oversight of local police accused of abuse. It also falls on the fifth anniversary of the police-involved death of George Floyd on May 25th. The death sparked national and worldwide outrage and became a transitional moment politically and culturally, although the outcry for laws on police accountability failed.

The death forced then-Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden to focus on deadly police force and accountability. His efforts while president to pass the George Floyd Justice in policing act failed. The death of George Floyd also put a spotlight on the Black community, forcing then-candidate Biden to choose a Black woman running mate. Kamala Harris ultimately became vice president of the United States alongside Joe Biden. Minnesota State Attorney General Keith Ellison prosecuted the cases against the officers involved in the death of Floyd. He remembers,” Trump was in office when George Floyd was killed, and I would blame Trump for creating a negative environment for police-community relations. Remember, it was him who said when the looting starts, the shooting starts, it was him who got rid of all the consent decrees that were in place by the Obama administration.”

In 2025, Police-involved civilian deaths are up by “about 100 to about 11 hundred,” according to Ellison. Ellison acknowledges that the Floyd case five years ago involved a situation in which due process was denied, and five years later, the president is currently dismissing “due process. “The Minnesota Atty General also says, “Trump is trying to attack constitutional rule, attacking congressional authority and judicial decision-making.” George Floyd was an African-American man killed by police who knocked on his neck and on his back, preventing him from breathing. During those minutes on the ground, Floyd cried out for his late mother several times. Police subdued Floyd for an alleged counterfeit $20 bill.

Continue Reading

Activism

Oakland Post: Week of May 28 – June 30, 2025

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of May 28 – June 3, 2025

Published

on

To enlarge your view of this issue, use the slider, magnifying glass icon or full page icon in the lower right corner of the browser window.

Continue Reading

Subscribe to receive news and updates from the Oakland Post

* indicates required

CHECK OUT THE LATEST ISSUE OF THE OAKLAND POST

ADVERTISEMENT

WORK FROM HOME

Home-based business with potential monthly income of $10K+ per month. A proven training system and website provided to maximize business effectiveness. Perfect job to earn side and primary income. Contact Lynne for more details: Lynne4npusa@gmail.com 800-334-0540

Facebook

Trending

Copyright ©2021 Post News Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved.