Police Officers Association President Sergeant Dom Arotzarena said Oakland has 662 officers who are doing the work of 1,200.

The complaints about overwork come during contract negotiations with the city.

Sgt. Arotzarena said officers are overworked and underappreciated as they face life and death situations every day on their jobs. "I would not be surprised if we had 50 to 100 police officers thinking about leaving," said Sgt. Arotzarena, who blames the discontent in part on what he calls a lack of support from some at City Hall.

Other factors contributing to low morale include faulty police radios, Police Chief Anthony's Batts' recent try for a new job in San Jose, and last year's layoffs.

"When you lay off 80 officers," said Deputy Chief Eric Breshears, "It absolutely has an impact on the rest of the department."

Some point to increasing amounts of sick time as a sign of discontent -- the number of sick days taken by officers has doubled in the past two years.

The public is feeling the effects of short staffing on the force. A crime victim told KTVU officers responded to her call for help after she was beaten last week in a restaurant, but were called to another crime scene before they could finish her report.

"They said 'sorry about what happened to you' but that they had to go to a shooting, and that was all I heard from them - there was no callback or anything", said the victim, who wished to remain anonymous.

The union said there are beats that go unstaffed every night.

Mayor Jean Quan declined to comment. An aide to Quan said that commenting on staffing would be inappropriate at this time, because the mayor is currently in labor negotiations with the police union.