MACRO Victory Press Release
Community and Union Leaders Welcome City Council Vote to Establish A Police Free Mental Health Program in Oakland
Oakland, California—Today members of the Oakland City Council voted unanimously to introduce a model for mental health emergency support to Oaklanders (known as MACRO) that does not lead with law enforcement. We are a coalition of Oakland progressive community organizations and labor groups who advocated for the immediate creation of MACRO and we welcome the decision by City Council members to move forward with the creation of MACRO within the Fire Department and supported by a community advisory board. We would like to thank Vice Mayor Rebecca Kaplan for leading on this initiative, and to all the members of the City Council for recognizing the urgent need to bring police free emergency mental health services to the City of Oakland.
The creation of MACRO as a city program is a major step in beginning to reduce the risk of incarceration, violence, or death for a person in crisis. A large portion of those shot by police are in the middle of a mental health crisis—as much as a quarter of all police shootings in 2019. In Oakland, Yonas Algene, Richard Perkins, Marcellus Toney and Joshua Pawlik were all killed by the Oakland Police Department while experiencing a mental health crisis. The only way to prevent further killings is if the City stops spending resources on answering every service call with an officer carrying a badge and a gun.
The way MACRO is implemented matters. We need accountability with this program, and going through the Fire Department will ensure we have that.
“I’d like to thank Council Members Nikki Fortunato Bas and Dan Kalb. I am excited about legislation that represents true partnership between grassroots organizers and elected city council members. On days like this we must remember Miles Hall, Angelo Quinto, Joshua Pawlik, and so many more who were murdered in the middle of a mental health crisis. This is not an Oakland problem, it’s a national problem. The conversation started six years ago with APTP and culminated in the creation of the Defund Police Coalition. It has taken way too long to get here. We can do this in 4-6 months, through the Fire Department. Labor agreed to hire temporary workers, trained by on the ground experts,” said Cat Brooks, co-founder of the Anti Police Terror-Project and the Executive Director of the Justice Teams Network.
“Establishing the MACRO program is an important step forward for Oakland. Bringing improved responses to Oaklanders experiencing mental health emergencies is something we can all be proud of. Working with the community to build this program in-house, with good union jobs, shows the City of Oakland is committed to community safety and providing it in a transparent, equitable way. An in-house MACRO program staffed by City workers will help our community thrive,” said Yeon Park, Vice President East Bay, SEIU 1021.
So far the City administration and the Mayor have slow-walked the process of setting up this program. There is no need to stall as both workers via the Mental Health First program and the city and county’s mental health workers are available to help train potential MACRO staff immediately.
The creation of MACRO is literally a matter of life and death. There is widespread momentum and support for this work from the people of Oakland.
