Christopher Heredia, Chronicle Staff Writer
Tuesday, January 15, 2008

(01-14) 20:42 PST Oakland -- A defensive Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums trumpeted his record of good deeds and promised during his first State of the City address on Monday to put more police officers on the streets to battle violence and street crime...

Dellums urged the standing-room-only crowd of about 800, including San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom and Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Oakland, to read the 22 pages of accomplishments outlined in a booklet prepared for his address.

He said he wanted people to look at his accomplishments "without third-party filtering," a not-so-subtle slam at the media, which he maintains does not report positive news about the city.

"Every time you see a pothole filled, that's what we're doing," he said. "Every time you see a tree planted, that's what we're doing. Every time you see a fire put out, or a police officer patrolling, that's what we're doing. I'm not Superman. I have 5,000 employees at our disposal.

"We're prepared to stand and be held accountable based on the facts, not based on the interpretation of those facts."

Still, the mayor called the fatal shooting of journalist Chauncey Bailey and last week's gunfire that paralyzed a 10-year-old piano student - two incidents that received wide news coverage - senseless acts that diminish the community.

"Fundamental to any civilized society is the right of people to go about their lives with a sense of peace, security and safety," he said.

The 72-year-old mayor said he will convene a public safety summit in response to the city's high crime rate.

He called on the City Council and Police Chief Wayne Tucker to increase the number of recruits in the city's police academy, to establish incentives to keep older officers on the force beyond retirement - some of them to train new recruits - and to better prepare Oakland residents and others interested in law enforcement for jobs with the city's Police Department.

The city is about 70 officers short of its authorized force of 803. Like many other cities across the nation, Oakland has had difficulty recruiting qualified candidates for the police academy. Also, five officers retire from the force each month.

Dellums promised that by year's end, the police department will be fully staffed at 803 officers. That together with the new community policing program will make the city safer, he said.

The community policing program begins Saturday. The city will be divided into three geographic areas - central, east and north-west, each overseen by a police captain who will be held accountable for getting to know residents and neighborhood issues and reducing crime in his or her district.

Other plans to reduce violence include training at-risk youth and ex-offenders for jobs, and intensifying police efforts to get weapons off the streets by cracking down on illegal gun dealers and establishing a city program to buy back guns...