By Jean Quan

CITY COUNCILWOMAN DISTRICT 4-MONTCLAIR, LAUREL

PUBLIC SAFETY concerns us all, and next Tuesday you can make a difference. I have spent much of this year helping shape Measure Y, because I believe it will make Oakland safer for all us.

In March, Measure R, which aimed to reduce violent crime in Oakland, received an overwhelming majority, but failed by a few hundred votes to receive the two-thirds-plus support needed to pass.

Following this narrow defeat, a broader coalition of city leaders, officials, violence prevention advocates and neighborhood groups came together to develop Measure Y, a more focused and comprehensive response to violent crime and safety in our community. For a comparison and information, see www.jeanquan.org

Some opponents say, "More police is the only way to stop crime." Others say, "More social programs are the only way to prevent violence." Neither extreme works; neither group has produced a workable alternative.

After studying what works in Oakland and other cities, I believe only coordinated prevention programs, interventions with youth most in need, and community-based police working together can break the cycle of violence. Measure Y is an integrated, balanced solution.

Measure Y's enforcement strategy emphasizes crime prevention and community policing. Measure Y adds 63 police officers above the 739 now budgeted and mandates assignment to community policing and violence-prevention duties:

• A community policing officer for each beat;

• Expanded school police and truancy officers;

• Officers to work with social services for domestic violence, child abuse and child prostitution;

• Crime Reduction Teams focused on violent crime, drug dealing, and gang activities; and

• Funding for training and equipment and a police-social services referral system.

This expansion would make neighborhood associations and watch groups more effective in shutting down problem properties like the Hillcrest Motel or preventing burglaries.

Violence Prevention programs focus on at-risk students and young adults, such as:

• Youth outreach counselors and employment opportunities;

• After-school programs provide tutoring and mentoring opportunities for at-risk adolescents, and expanded truancy programs; and

• Domestic violence and child abuse counselors, who team with the police and the criminal justice system to assist victims of domestic violence and child prostitution and expand early childhood intervention programs for children exposed to violence at an early age.

Some $6.3 million of Measure Y's funding, more than what Measure R would have provided, would pay for these activities.

Anyone who doubts that these programs make a difference should read the latest report by Safe Passages, a coalition of city, county and school efforts to reduce violence. One pilot program provides a case manager to juveniles referred from the courts. It has cut in half the number of youth who are back in the juvenile justice system after 18 months. For less than $2,000 a year we keep a young person in the community and school instead of Juvenile Hall, costing $27,000 a year.

Finally, Measure Y ensures rapid response to emergencies by increasing paramedics and firefighters, restoring budget cuts that require rotating closures of fire stations every day. In the hills alone, one third or three of our stations are closed for most of the year (nonfire season). Firefighters are the first medical responders to a 911 call, a situation where a few minutes extra can mean the difference between life and death.

Measure Y ensures accountability by establishing an independent Oversight Committee to annually audit finances and evaluate programs.

Measure Y spreads the cost between both parcel taxes and commercial parking taxes (includes the airport and downtown lots serving those who live outside Oakland). It provides for a low-income exemption.

Sadly, there has been much misrepresentation by some of our opponents. Please don't be fooled. Thoughtful and diverse leaders -- the League of Women Voters, Oakland Community Organizations, Oakland Chamber of Commerce, the Montclair Safety and Improvement Council, National Women's Political Caucus, The Chronicle, The Tribune, U.S. Rep. Barbara Lee, state Sen. Don Perata, Assemblywoman Wilma Chan, Mayor Jerry Brown, and all but one City Council member -- have studied and endorsed Measure Y.