The State - News from March 28, 1988

Oakland Police Chief George Hart said he will ask the city for $8 million to hire 99 more police officers to help combat drug-related crimes. The chief told the Oakland Tribune that the federal government must start imposing economic sanctions on drug-producing foreign countries in order for the United States to win the war against drugs. He also said putting more officers on the street would be only a temporary relief, unless community and family morals were strengthened. While the overall crime rate in the city declined in 1987, drug-related murders increased proportionately to the rising popularity of crack cocaine, Hart said. He blamed the increase on ruthless, youthful dealers with “no sense of morality.”