Oakland Police Department Survey Says Low Morale Plagues Force
OAKLAND (KCBS) — An internal survey at the Oakland Police Department finds officers there are feeling stressed out and unappreciated. While the survey's results were shared with the media, they have yet to be discussed internally within the department.
The East Bay Express obtained the survey's results through a public records act request and found that 84 percent of police on the force do not feel valued by Oakland city government.
"What we really need is leadership. We need leadership at City Hall and we need leadership at the top ranks of the police department," said Oakland Police Officer's Association President Barry Donelan.
Officers have said mandatory overtime has made the job stressful and some even brought up the suicides of two police officers last summer.
Oakland Police Department Survey Says Low Morale Plagues Force
Donelan had hoped the survey results could be a blueprint for improvements.
"You in the media are talking about it, but internally there is a deafening silence and the police department has made no effort to try and communicate with the employees about the results of the survey," Donelan said.
The survey also found the majority of officers feel under-appreciated by Oakland residents. Oakland police commanders had not yet answered KCBS' calls for comment on this story as of this writing.
