![]() The Oakland City Council approved the MACRO pilot program in March 2021 under the control of the Oakland Fire Department after proposals to work with community organizations fell apart. While the effort predated the police killings of George Floyd in Minneapolis and Breonna Taylor in Kentucky, which caused nationwide protests and calls to “defund” police departments, it became part of Oakland’s “reimagining” of public safety. The Urban Strategies Council was tapped by the Police Commission to lead a study to see what it would take to set up a CAHOOTS-like program in Oakland. ![]() ![]() Called CAHOOTS-Crisis Assistance Helping Out On The Streets-the Eugene-based service has been around since 1989 and was shown to have saved the city millions each year while treating people suffering from mental health crises. At the same time, members of the Coalition for Police Accountability, a community group focused on police reforms, were recommending that Oakland take a close look at a little-known program from Oregon that sent civilians out on patrol with harm reduction supplies and de-escalation skills. Many complained that the police couldn’t help them and often did more harm than good. Its origin can be traced back to early 2019, when the Oakland Police Commission held a public hearing in West Oakland to hear from unhoused residents about their encounters with police. MACRO could fundamentally change how the city responds to nonviolent and non-criminal 911 calls by sending unarmed civilian responders-EMTs and community intervention specialists-instead of police. An effort years in the making Rick Fitzsimmons, a MACRO emergency medical technician, shows the equipment the team goes out with for the day, including water, snacks and emergency medical supplies to treat anyone who made need medical assistance. City officials and community members are deeply invested in the program, which is one of a few of its kind in the nation, part of a movement by some cities to try to respond to crises with civilians who are armed only with compassion and resources. Since April, MACRO crews have roamed about in search of people who may need their assistance. MACRO was designed to have civilian workers respond to non-violent, non-emergency 911 calls, a dramatic shift away from the traditional response of sending police officers to deal with a multitude of problems-the majority of 911 calls, in fact-like a person suffering from mental illness and causing a disturbance, or someone sleeping in a park, or a welfare check needed for someone unconscious on the sidewalk. Now in its third month, the pilot community response program is becoming a familiar presence in several areas hard hit by the housing and homelessness crisis, drugs, poverty, and other social ills. This is how the day begins for members of the Mobile Assistance Community Responders of Oakland, or MACRO. They are starting to know our names,” Duncan-Perry says. We are going to see some people I know are not going to want services, but I still feel obligated to swing by and see what’s up.”ĭuncan-Perry, who grew up in East Oakland, knows the neighborhoods well, but in her third week is still getting to know the list of people Hanna and Fitzsimmons want to check on during each shift. “There’s a crazy opioid epidemic in Oakland right now. “They are one of the ones I like to check on,” Fitzsimmons says. In the front passenger seat, Rick Fitzsimmons, an emergency medical technician, says he wants to track down a couple in their 60s who he hasn’t seen in a while, not since the car they were living in was towed. ![]() Chiarra Duncan-Perry, who goes by “Key,” clutches a legal pad ready to take notes on their encounters with Oakland residents. They’ll check on “sleepers”-unsheltered residents at their campsites who might be waking up-and offer them food, water, and an opportunity to receive services through the city’s CARES program.
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