Mayor Thao outlines her plan on how to make Oakland safer

Oakland mayor is pushing for public safety

Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao said she hopes to have 730 police officers, is doubling the investment in MACRO and getting $1.2 million for license plate readers.

OAKLAND, Calif. - Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao on Tuesday outlined steps the city is taking to prevent crime since she was sworn in nine months ago.

"Community safety is my office's top priority," she said in a statement. "And we have continued to make critical investments into safety in spite of a $360 million deficit -- the largest in Oakland's history."

The police department should increase staffing in the police department and reach 730 officers by the end of this year, which would be a three-year high.

Here are some of her plans:

Dedicate eight officers to foot patrols and seven to traffic units.
Increase funding for community ambassadors.
Bring back Ceasefire, a successful, holistic program that reduced homicides and other violence.
Double the city's investment in MACRO, which provides civilian response to non-violent, non-emergency calls.
Use more than $1 million in state funding to purchase license plate readers.

Thao added that the most "fiscally responsible and effective way to reducing crime is investing in intervention programs, and the average Oakland resident."