MACRO needs your support at the next City Council meeting!

We support establishing the MACRO (Mobile Assistance Community Responders of Oakland) program immediately by putting the fire department—not police—in charge of mental health crisis calls. MACRO must be staffed by city workers and trained staff who have expertise in working with communities suffering from mental health, addiction and domestic violence as survivors of state violence.

Earlier this month Oakland City Council voted to move a proposal forward to house MACRO within the Oakland Fire Department. This Tuesday, the details about how the program will be staffed are going to be presented to city council in the form of a staff report. It will propose either (1) contracting with Alameda County mental health professionals, (2) quickly hiring temporary city staff, or (3) entering into a contract with a non-profit provider.

City administrators continue to message that setting up MACRO as a city program within the fire department will take too long. This is false. There is no reason to stall this important life saving program as community programs like MHFirst are available to train workers.

More than a quarter of police killings occur when an individual is in the midst of a mental health crisis. We cannot wait any longer to implement this program. Setting up MACRO in house will ensure greater transparency with the community and provide good union jobs for Oaklanders.