Oakland NAACP: "Failed Leadership, Including the Movement to Defund the Police, our District Attorney's

unwillingness to charge and prosecute people who murder and commit life threatening serious crimes, and the proliferation of anti-police rhetoric have created a heyday for Oakland criminals."

"If there are no consequences for committing crime in Oakland, crime will continue to soar." "We are 500 police officers short of the number that experts say Oakland needs. Our 911 system does not work. Residents now know that help will not come when danger confronts them. Worse, criminals know that too."

"There is nothing compassionate or progressive about allowing criminal behavior to fester and rob Oakland residents of their basic rights to public safety. It is not racist or unkind to want to be safe from crime. No one should live in fear in our city."

That is from what appears to be an authentic copy of the letter (which is signed by Oakland NAACP President Cynthia Adams and Bishop Bob Jackson of the Acts Full Gospel Church) as reproduced in a Tweet by former Oakland City Councilman Loren Taylor (who had narrowly lost the Mayoral race last year):

CBS News (Andrea Nakano) reports that a spokesperson at the office of the Oakland DA, Pamela Price, responded with this statement:

We are disappointed that a great African-American pastor and a great African-American organization would take a false narrative on such an important matter. We would expect more from Bishop Bob Jackson and the Oakland Chapter of the NAACP.