As California Gov. Gavin Newsom extends a program to allow state highway patrol officers to help San Francisco Bay Area cities deal with escalating crime, local communities say more is needed, while law enforcement agencies say they’re struggling with a widespread staffing shortage.
Meanwhile, Newsom has called attention to what he called an extreme policy that prevents police officers from pursuing suspects in the city of Oakland.
The governor initially sent dozens of California Highway Patrol (CHP) officers to Oakland about a year ago to crack down on local criminal activity, after a number of businesses had shuttered due to higher crime rates. The officers were often deployed in surges of 20 to 30 officers at a time, said Newsom….