More than 100 Oakland police officers are on leave

(KRON) — There are 133 Oakland Police Department officers who are currently on leave or have limited duties, according to OPD. Officers on break from fighting crime left patrol for different types of leaves, including administrative, medical, and military.

The 133 officers represent about 20 percent of Oakland’s 644 sworn officers. OPD officials did not say how many of the 133 are still being paid their full salaries. Salaries for Oakland Police Department officers range between $84,000-$148,000 annually.

On Friday, OPD officials said the remaining 80 percent — 511 officers — “are available for the full and unrestricted duties.”

The staffing statistics were released as six Traffic Enforcement Motorcycle Officers are being reassigned to patrol duties because of low-staffing challenges.

“These officers will be assigned to dedicated patrol beats throughout Oakland, filling vacancies currently covered by overtime, to ensure consistent and sufficient patrol coverage. The reassignment of these Traffic Enforcement Officers will not affect OPD’s sideshow enforcement detail coverage on the weekends,” the police department explained.

According to the most recent U.S. Census, the City of Oakland has about 465,000 residents.

The Oakland Police Officers Association warned that consequences will be felt in every neighborhood with less dedicated traffic officers on duty. “Residents will likely see slower investigations, less enforcement, and more lawless driving as their will be no officers on patrol to handout tickets to speeders, red light runners, and drivers who put pedestrians and bicyclists at risk,” the police union wrote.

Police Chief Floyd Mitchell wrote in a statement Friday, “Unfortunately, due to our current attrition rate of five to six officers per month and the lack of funding to start a police academy for over a year (June 2024 to July 2025), this will not be the last reassignment of specialized officers back to dedicated patrol duties in the coming weeks. Addressing the current staffing crisis will take time.”

The decision to cancel and not fund any police academies last year was made by the city before Mayor Barbara Lee took office, the chief said. Oakland’s previous mayor, Sheng Thao, was booted from office by a recall election and she was indicted by a federal grand jury for bribery and fraud.

OPD is actively recruiting for future police academies. The 195th Academy is currently in session and expected to graduate in January 2026.