Oakland's MACRO touts improvements despite criticism; needs $4M a year to survive

OAKLAND, Calif. - Three years after it launched, the Mobile Assistance Community Responders of Oakland, otherwise known as MACRO, is telling city leaders it has been making positive strides – despite questions from critics over some of its data - and its director said it needs roughly $4-million a year to survive.

In an interview on Tuesday, MACRO Program Manager Elliott Jones said a state grant of $10 million given to the program in 2022 runs out at the end of 2026.

$4M a year to survive

And his team needs roughly $4 million a year to continue operating after that, he said.

Jones said he knows Oakland is facing a budget shortfall and is working with both city leaders and looking for grants so that the MACRO program – born after the death of George Floyd as a way to send out crews of crisis counselors and paramedics instead of police – can stay afloat.

"The budget is top of mind for us," Jones said. 

Jones spoke to KTVU on Tuesday ahead of his report submitted to Oakland's Public Safety Committee, which looks at the program's accomplishments in 2024 and the first quarter of 2025.  

Accomplishments

"We're doing more," Jones said in the interview. "The volume is up, the dispatches are up. We're able to address pretty much every call that comes in. There are a very few percentages that we have to send back or kick up for greater support. So really, all the core goals are being addressed. And now it's about building the system so that this can thrive moving forward and the opportunity for growth and to evolve…Every expectation of mine has been shattered." 

Several of the program's highlights include: 

• Nearly 98% of the calls were resolved onsite, without requiring police intervention.
• MACRO officials said they were able to divert 34% of calls away from law enforcement and emergency services, which shows that the teams are "reducing the burden" on police.
• MACRO's hours are now 6:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m., more than the 3 p.m. closing time in 2022. Jones said he hopes to possibly put on a graveyard shift this summer.
• MACRO currently employs 17 community intervention specialists and nine EMTs and is looking to hire up to five more EMTS.
• MACRO teams responded to a little more than 6,300 incidents last year, and 58% were called in by dispatch. In 2023, just 6% of the calls came from 911. This was the first time in the program's three-year period that this occurred.

Data questioned

But critics from the Coalition for Police Accountability, who helped found and create the program, questioned the methodology and numbers cited in the report. 

For example, they said that 98% of the calls that were resolved without police intervention probably didn't need a police response in the first place. 

They wondered where the 34% diversion number actually came from, other than what they described as a convoluted university study. And they're skeptical of why dispatch referral numbers aren't higher. 

"Mostly, I'm very critical of the council's lack of oversight," Coalition member Millie Cleveland told KTVU. "The program is deviating from its original goals. And it's really irresponsible for them to exist for three years with no outside independent evaluator."

Jones countered that it was unfair to criticize the 98%-resolve rate.

"These are the calls coming in," he said. "If MACRO is not there to answer them, they will be left on the system for police or fire to address. "And if we're giving someone a bottle of water and it prevents them from further dehydration or decomposition to where you'll need an ambulance, an officer and a fire truck, then I would say the ROI is pretty great on the MACRO team and that bottle of the water." 

As for the 34% diversion number, Jones said the percentage comes directly for Oakland police "stop data," and was compiled by a University of Oregon researcher, where the original MACRO-like program was born in Eugene, Ore. 

Cleveland and her colleagues are also confused as to why Oakland police data shows "hundreds" of calls OPD believes could be dispatched to MACRO, which she said the program won't accept because of their strict criteria, such as not being able to enter homes or show up to a possibly violent situation. 

On average, MACRO teams are responding to just three or four 911 calls a day, which Cleveland and others think is far too low. 

"Their criteria are so restrictive," Cleveland said. "The criteria need to be changed. The skill levels need to be challenged so that they can take more serious calls. It's clear they don't involve themselves in de-escalation. "

Jones countered that his teams are simply not going to show up to violent situations.

"That's a police thing," he said, adding that in May so far, MACRO has responded to 565 calls and 370 dispatches. "That's a lot of work for a team of less than 30." 

And for the "hundreds" of calls that critics say MACRO doesn't respond to?

"Their assertion is unfounded," Jones said.

Cleveland argued back: All the calls Jones is referring to are not 911 calls and therefore, his numbers are inflated; other cities respond to much higher calls for service; and MACRO limits itself on what calls their teams will show up for. 

Who is MACRO serving?

Then there is the issue of whom MACRO serves.

A core principle of MACRO was to provide non-police responses to the most underserved communities.

MACRO's current data shows 48% of the calls are from North Oakland along College Avenue and downtown, and 39% of the calls are from East and West Oakland. 

Critics say more attention should be paid to East and West Oakland, but Jones said that downtown "is the most active district in the city….and there will be more calls proportionately there." 

Both sides want MACRO audit

Jones and the critics agree on this point: There should be an independent audit of MACRO.

Jones said he thinks this would be a big financial burden on the city, so he's asked the University of Chicago to perform an evaluation of the program for free. He said the university is fundraising for that effort right now. 

To reach MACRO, call 911, 510-44-MACRO or email macro@oaklandca.gov.

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