Residents of Temescal's Police Beat 10Y attended their regular Neighborhood Crime Prevention Council meeting, Wednesday night at Santa Fe Elementary School, to hear Oakland Police Chief Tony Batts describe the strategic plan he is working to make a reality.

After feasting on potluck dishes that filled two cafeteria tables, council Chairwoman Vertis Whitaker called to meeting to order, then turned the floor over to Batts, who abandoned the stage to orate among some 50 residents who'd gathered March 24.

Asking the crowd, "Are you happy?" he went on to describe his policing background in Long Beach; his initial reluctance to come as chief after being approached by a headhunter; and his eventual conclusion that he was called to come to Oakland as part of his history of addressing the needs of young people - much as he himself had been mentored by a police officer when he was growing up in South Central Los Angeles.

Batts encouraged all citizens to review the Strategic Plan Framework (available in English, Spanish and Chinese here), and presented highlights at the meeting. Citizens can also respond to a community survey linked from the site.

Batts compared the death rate per capita in Oakland to the casualties after 9/11 and said that Oakland, as a city, tolerates a death rate above one that sent the country to war. He believes the city is at a crossroads and can turn the tide for good.

"We can make a change; the city has the ability," he said.

Asking for input from the community, he asserted that the turnaround can only happen with participation from citizens. His goal is to have enough personnel to "be there when you need us," and he acknowledged that isn't the case today. He asked the crowd whether they believed the significant change the report proposed by 2013, was possible; and many thought it was possible and worth trying.

Rather than continuing to allow about 120 murders a year (as the situation has been for the past 30 years), he said he was asking the OPD and residents to begin thinking of themselves in a different way, and quoted significant drops in crime in 2010, though citizen polls indicate the perception is that crime is increasing.

Batts clarified that he has no tolerance for corruption or bad policing, and that he is pulling in favors from friends to conduct police trainings for free, as well as applying for grants to continue to bring up the Oakland Police Department's level of training. He said he received quadruple the training in law when he was an officer in Long Beach.

Perogatives for the chief include assigning responsibility for each of the 57 police beats to an individual officer for 18-month stretches; though he said to do that, Oakland will need to add 75 more officers. Batts has already increased the number of officers in the field, at a cost of increasing the backlog of work for detectives - implying that more support will be necessary to increase the capacity of the Police Department to respond quickly to calls.

After his presentation Batts responded to questions from the audience, expressing support for camera monitoring, while acknowledging it merely drives crime to areas without surveillance. He said that residents have a role to play, including working with the police; and described the need to address core social issues in tandem with police enforcement to change the tide in a city.

Elaborating on his philosophy that "a city has to look safe to feel safe," the chief said that when a city becomes dilapidated, it breeds the mentality that citizens don't care. Residents can volunteer an hour a week with youth, and work outside their own neighborhood to contribute. Relatively easy tasks, like getting to know your neighbors and asking them to keep their lawns neat and well-lit were presented as first steps.

Batts said that news media covering stories on programs in other cities that are successful are also key; and that he's been actively meeting with youth across the city. He cited a Thursday meeting at Youth Uprising as his next meeting, in addition to previous meetings at school sites and in the community.

At the close of the meeting, Whitaker invited the group to attend the next meeting on Apr. 28. Chief Batts, the beat's problem solving officer, other police staff and a representative from Councilmember Jane Brunner's office chatted with residents and discussed local initiatives, such as a proposal to build a cell phone tower in the beat and a private condominium building's use of public land for parking spaces.

See Oakland Local's complete coverage of the strategic plan.