OAKLAND --
Next week Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums will ask the City Council to free up $7.5 million to help bring the police department to full strength by the end of the year.
The push comes at the same time as the city has been plagued with a rash of killings.
NBC11's Cheryl Hurd spoke with Dellums about his drive to recruit more officers.
"I think it's (a) more difficult job (mayor) than being the president," he said, adding that he promised to hire 100 more officers by May. The money to fund the new positions would come from Measure Y funds, a voter-approved measure to increase funding for violence prevention.
Oakland voters approved a parcel tax in 2004 to increase funding for firefighting, violence prevention and police efforts. The measure carried with it a promise to add 63 police officers - a promise that has not been fulfilled.
Dellums finds himself in a difficult position because the city's murder rate is on the rise and there are not enough officers to protect residents.
"We know we have crime issues in the town," said Sgt. Dom Arotzarena with the Oakland police.
Arotzarena works in the recruiting and background investigation unit in the department. His job is to find qualified applicants become police officers.
"In order to get 803 officers before the end of the year, we have to attack our pool application that's in nine Bay Area counties," he said.
And the search is actually taking place nationwide.
"We are heading to Detroit," Arotzarena said. "There's been layoffs in their police department."
Dion Huntley, 22, came to the recruiting office to see if he could become an officer.
"It's about doing the right thing and making a change," he said.
Dellums' request would go toward advertising police job openings, stepped-up recruitment at colleges and military bases, speeding up the job-application process, expanding police academies, more school outreach and creating summer internship programs.
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