2.10 20-0418 Subject: OPD RSI Helicopter Maintenance Contract
From: Oakland Police Department
Recommendation: Adopt A Resolution Authorizing The City Administrator Or Designee To Enter Into A Professional Services Agreement With Rotorcraft Support, Inc. (RSI) To Provide Helicopter Maintenance Services To The Oakland Police Department (OPD) For The Period Of July 1, 2020 To June 30, 2022 In An Amount Not To Exceed Seven Hundred Fifty Thousand Dollars ($750,000) Per Year Or One Million Five Hundred Thousand Dollars ($1,500,000) For July 1, 2020 To June 30, 2022, With An Option To Extend The Contract For One Additional Year To June 30, 2023, At The Same Rate Of Seven Hundred Fifty Thousand Dollars ($750,000) Per Year, For A Total Contract Not To Exceed Two Million, Two Hundred Fifty Thousand Dollars ($2,250,000)
I am a resident of District 3, and I strongly oppose this waste of resources. It is unconscionable that the city council would continue to throw money at OPD for their continued militarization. We need to invest in our community, not OPD.
I oppose this position. We need to defund the police and re-direct our budgetary funds to things that will actually make our community safe and healthy: education, housing for all, jobs, and mental and physical health. Defund the OPD!
I am a District 1 resident and I strongly oppose this. Helicopters are not an essential service, and at a time when the city is making big cuts this expense is absolutely unnecessary. Instead I support:
1) Cut OPD funding by 50%
2) Do not allow unauthorized overtime by OPD
3) Cancel Oakland's CHP contract
4) Do not allow general funds to pay for legal settlements related to police brutality, misconduct or negligence
5) Invest in housing, homelessness services, jobs, youth programs, restorative justice, mental health and COVID-19 response efforts in black and brown communities.
I strongly oppose this contract. Putting in maintenance and upkeep of military style weapons and equipment during a time of tremendous scrutiny around the legacy and role of OPD is disingenuous, upsetting, and a non-judicious use of our taxpayer funds. How about instead of flying surveillance overhead, we invest in underserved communities on the ground?
As a resident of District 3, I urge you to commit to begin defunding the Oakland Police Department. It is unaccountable, obstinate, unfathomably wasteful, and does not keep our communities safe—it terrorizes them. This process begins by defunding OPD's general fund budget by at least 50% and committing that $150 million to community services (health, housing, work, environmental justice, and schools) in Black and Brown communities. Now is (y)our chance to strive toward true transformative justice.
(Anthony Shearer Dist. 3) I do not want us to continue putting things before people. Oakland Police Dept. takes up nearly 40% of the General Budget. The nation is in a real crisis: black people are being gunned down like target practice and racism in many police departments is being exposed on a regular. So I must oppose this item. I feel this money needs to be reallocated to something like the Dept of Race and Equity, Cultural Competency, Training to abolish Chokeholds / Strangleholds, and safer deescalation tech. or other Human Social Services.
An an Oakland resident and voter, I strongly oppose this bill. It is highly disturbing that the city's budget has allowed OPD to take up almost half of its entire budget. This does not make me prideful of the city we live in. We need education, housing, jobs, and mental health services; not more officers armed like they are going into battle with its citizens. I support the following.
1) Cut OPD funding by 50%
2) Do not allow unauthorized overtime by OPD
3) Cancel Oakland's CHP contract
4) Do not allow general funds to pay for legal settlements related to police brutality, misconduct or negligence
5) Invest in housing, homelessness services, jobs, youth programs, restorative justice, mental health and COVID-19 response efforts in black and brown communities.
The entire time I have lived in Oakland the police helicopter presence during various protests has been one of the most oppressive and disruptive impacts on those of us who are just staying in our homes. There is no reason for us to live in a police state like this. Every opportunity to constrict the resources of the OPD must be taken at this point, as they have proven to be more a gang protecting their own unlawful behavior than a civic institution (this despite a consent decree approaching 20 years now, little progress has been made, which is shameful!)
I oppose this contract, and any other action that is not defunding the Oakland Police Department. The community of Oakland does not need more surveillance, it needs the city to invest in its wellbeing. Redirect the funds set aside for this contract into housing, nutrition, and mental health services.
I oppose this resolution. Helicopters are NOT a priority for a city right now - addressing harm by the police and investing in the health and well-being of our communities are the priority. Moving $2.5 million into police helicopters in this historical moment would be obscene.
I am an Oakland resident in District 1 and I oppose this contract. This unnecessary militarization of the OPD is and continues to infringe on private citizens who are legally protesting. The OPD should be defunded and instead, that allowance should be put towards education, mental health, homeless outreach, restorative justice, youth programs, and other public services that are NOT within the PD.
No more helicopter funding Its been inappropriately used to intimidate and survival people expressing their first amendment rights. This money should be used for heath and human services.
I oppose this contract. Oakland is facing an $80 million budget shortfall resulting from the coronavirus crisis. Helicopter maintenance is not a priority. People are.
We do not need to spend over $2 million in order to maintain another toy for oppression. This should not even be on an agenda when the city has a major deficit and folks are taking to the streets to reduce OPD budget. I strongly oppose + strongly urge council members to reassess this agenda.
I oppose this contract. Oakland can work with the Sheriff's Office on issues that demand helicopter use. Oakland needs this money to better balance our budget in other critical areas. The police budget needs to be severely reduced. Invest in people.
My name is Caitlin Bergin and I am a resident of District 1. I oppose this contract. This is a further militarization of OPD. This taxpayer money will be used to conduct surveillance on the citizens of Oakland. I am a proponent of the following:
1) Cut OPD funding by 50%
2) Do not allow unauthorized overtime by OPD
3) Cancel Oakland's CHP contract
4) Do not allow general funds to pay for legal settlements related to police brutality, misconduct or negligence
5) Invest in housing, homelessness services, jobs, youth programs, restorative justice, mental health and COVID-19 response efforts in black and brown communities.
These helicopters are being used to surveil protesters who are exercising their first amendment rights. This money would be better spent on affordable housing and other services that actually help our community.
I do not support this contract. It is unacceptable that during a pandemic or any time we would spend $750,000/year on unnecessary equipment when we could reinvest this money into community and health services. It is clear that the community is in favor of reducing OPD's budget significantly, and this should also apply to any related and contracted services. Furthermore as someone who lives in a District that has had nearly constant helicopter activity over the past few weeks, particularly during May 29-June 3 when helicopters were so loud from 8am to 4am the next day that I could not sleep, I consider these police helicopters not only to be oppressive and unnecessary but also a public nuisance. This money should be going to schools, health services, and community programs.
I oppose this contract. This is a further militarization of OPD. This taxpayer money will be used to conduct surveilance on the citizens of Oakland. Instead, you should reduce the OPD budget by at least 50% and use that money to fund the Covid-19 response in Black abd Brown Communities. Defund the OPD!
I demand that you do what is morally correct by voting today to to DENY the renewal of the helicopter maintenance contract with Rotorcraft Support, Inc (RSI) and effectively ground the police vehicle because we do not need further surveillance from the air and we do not need $2.25 million of the city's budget going into aircraft maintenance when it could be going into public services.
I am a resident of District 3, and I strongly oppose this waste of resources. It is unconscionable that the city council would continue to throw money at OPD for their continued militarization. We need to invest in our community, not OPD.
I oppose this position. We need to defund the police and re-direct our budgetary funds to things that will actually make our community safe and healthy: education, housing for all, jobs, and mental and physical health. Defund the OPD!
I am a District 1 resident and I strongly oppose this. Helicopters are not an essential service, and at a time when the city is making big cuts this expense is absolutely unnecessary. Instead I support:
1) Cut OPD funding by 50%
2) Do not allow unauthorized overtime by OPD
3) Cancel Oakland's CHP contract
4) Do not allow general funds to pay for legal settlements related to police brutality, misconduct or negligence
5) Invest in housing, homelessness services, jobs, youth programs, restorative justice, mental health and COVID-19 response efforts in black and brown communities.
Helicopters are an easy place to start the cuts.
I strongly oppose this contract. Putting in maintenance and upkeep of military style weapons and equipment during a time of tremendous scrutiny around the legacy and role of OPD is disingenuous, upsetting, and a non-judicious use of our taxpayer funds. How about instead of flying surveillance overhead, we invest in underserved communities on the ground?
As a resident of District 3, I urge you to commit to begin defunding the Oakland Police Department. It is unaccountable, obstinate, unfathomably wasteful, and does not keep our communities safe—it terrorizes them. This process begins by defunding OPD's general fund budget by at least 50% and committing that $150 million to community services (health, housing, work, environmental justice, and schools) in Black and Brown communities. Now is (y)our chance to strive toward true transformative justice.
(Anthony Shearer Dist. 3) I do not want us to continue putting things before people. Oakland Police Dept. takes up nearly 40% of the General Budget. The nation is in a real crisis: black people are being gunned down like target practice and racism in many police departments is being exposed on a regular. So I must oppose this item. I feel this money needs to be reallocated to something like the Dept of Race and Equity, Cultural Competency, Training to abolish Chokeholds / Strangleholds, and safer deescalation tech. or other Human Social Services.
An an Oakland resident and voter, I strongly oppose this bill. It is highly disturbing that the city's budget has allowed OPD to take up almost half of its entire budget. This does not make me prideful of the city we live in. We need education, housing, jobs, and mental health services; not more officers armed like they are going into battle with its citizens. I support the following.
1) Cut OPD funding by 50%
2) Do not allow unauthorized overtime by OPD
3) Cancel Oakland's CHP contract
4) Do not allow general funds to pay for legal settlements related to police brutality, misconduct or negligence
5) Invest in housing, homelessness services, jobs, youth programs, restorative justice, mental health and COVID-19 response efforts in black and brown communities.
Do the right thing now.
The entire time I have lived in Oakland the police helicopter presence during various protests has been one of the most oppressive and disruptive impacts on those of us who are just staying in our homes. There is no reason for us to live in a police state like this. Every opportunity to constrict the resources of the OPD must be taken at this point, as they have proven to be more a gang protecting their own unlawful behavior than a civic institution (this despite a consent decree approaching 20 years now, little progress has been made, which is shameful!)
I oppose this contract, and any other action that is not defunding the Oakland Police Department. The community of Oakland does not need more surveillance, it needs the city to invest in its wellbeing. Redirect the funds set aside for this contract into housing, nutrition, and mental health services.
I oppose this resolution. Helicopters are NOT a priority for a city right now - addressing harm by the police and investing in the health and well-being of our communities are the priority. Moving $2.5 million into police helicopters in this historical moment would be obscene.
I am an Oakland resident in District 1 and I oppose this contract. This unnecessary militarization of the OPD is and continues to infringe on private citizens who are legally protesting. The OPD should be defunded and instead, that allowance should be put towards education, mental health, homeless outreach, restorative justice, youth programs, and other public services that are NOT within the PD.
No more helicopter funding Its been inappropriately used to intimidate and survival people expressing their first amendment rights. This money should be used for heath and human services.
I oppose this contract. Oakland is facing an $80 million budget shortfall resulting from the coronavirus crisis. Helicopter maintenance is not a priority. People are.
I oppose this measure. The OPD doesn't need their own helicopters and the City of Oakland needs that money elsewhere (like the public school district)
We do not need to spend over $2 million in order to maintain another toy for oppression. This should not even be on an agenda when the city has a major deficit and folks are taking to the streets to reduce OPD budget. I strongly oppose + strongly urge council members to reassess this agenda.
I oppose this contract. Oakland can work with the Sheriff's Office on issues that demand helicopter use. Oakland needs this money to better balance our budget in other critical areas. The police budget needs to be severely reduced. Invest in people.
My name is Caitlin Bergin and I am a resident of District 1. I oppose this contract. This is a further militarization of OPD. This taxpayer money will be used to conduct surveillance on the citizens of Oakland. I am a proponent of the following:
1) Cut OPD funding by 50%
2) Do not allow unauthorized overtime by OPD
3) Cancel Oakland's CHP contract
4) Do not allow general funds to pay for legal settlements related to police brutality, misconduct or negligence
5) Invest in housing, homelessness services, jobs, youth programs, restorative justice, mental health and COVID-19 response efforts in black and brown communities.
Now is the time to make real change.
These helicopters are being used to surveil protesters who are exercising their first amendment rights. This money would be better spent on affordable housing and other services that actually help our community.
I do not support this contract. It is unacceptable that during a pandemic or any time we would spend $750,000/year on unnecessary equipment when we could reinvest this money into community and health services. It is clear that the community is in favor of reducing OPD's budget significantly, and this should also apply to any related and contracted services. Furthermore as someone who lives in a District that has had nearly constant helicopter activity over the past few weeks, particularly during May 29-June 3 when helicopters were so loud from 8am to 4am the next day that I could not sleep, I consider these police helicopters not only to be oppressive and unnecessary but also a public nuisance. This money should be going to schools, health services, and community programs.
I oppose this contract. This is a further militarization of OPD. This taxpayer money will be used to conduct surveilance on the citizens of Oakland. Instead, you should reduce the OPD budget by at least 50% and use that money to fund the Covid-19 response in Black abd Brown Communities. Defund the OPD!
I demand that you do what is morally correct by voting today to to DENY the renewal of the helicopter maintenance contract with Rotorcraft Support, Inc (RSI) and effectively ground the police vehicle because we do not need further surveillance from the air and we do not need $2.25 million of the city's budget going into aircraft maintenance when it could be going into public services.