area.com/investigations. Good news for the town looking to cut down on crime and catch up to criminals. More officers will soon be protecting the streets of Oakland after OPD welcomed a dozen new officers. NBC Bay Area's Velena Jones joins us live with more on what this means for a department that has struggled with chronic understaffing, Velena. Yeah, well, that's right. You know, this day was filled with a lot of emotion from excited new officers looking to make an impact. And their addition helps keep Oakland fully staffed for all of their current open positions. Ladies and gentlemen, I proudly present to you the graduates of the 183rd basic. Now, three women and nine men are now joining the department. The new officers say they are excited and ready to make a difference. Today's graduation comes on the heels of the city announcing a 33% overall reduction in crime compared to the same time last year. Today, the new rookies say in addition to fighting crime, they hope they can make an impact as an example for the city's youth, hope Ridge relationship with what's become a very frustrated community and show representation of different cultures in the department. It's exciting, that's one of the differences I wanted to make to kind of open up that deal, to, females from my community, from my culture as well. Well, I want to make a change, you know? I know there's people out there young kids who see police officers and they think, oh, you know, those are the bad guys. But in reality, no, I want to be the one that makes a difference and makes them realize, like, we're the good guys. Incoming police chief Floyd Mitchell, who formally starts next week, watched as his newest officers took their oath. Now, today's graduation brings staffing numbers to 716 sworn officers, which is the full budgeted amount for open positions within the department. Reporting live in the East Bay. Velena Jones
