Americans are used to calling their local police and receiving a rapid response. Or at least they were—in some places—some of the time. A case in point is Alameda, California, which like the rest of California, is self-destructing:
Alameda is a city located in Alameda County California. Alameda has a 2024 population of 70,742. Alameda is currently declining at a rate of -2.52% annually and its population has decreased by -9.69% since the most recent census, which recorded a population of 78,333 in 2020.
The average household income in Alameda is $152,950 with a poverty rate of 6.79%. The median rental costs in recent years comes to - per month, and the median house value is -. The median age in Alameda is 40.6 years, 39 years for males, and 42.1years for females.
Alameda, between Oakland and San Francisco is about 46% white, 31% Asian and 6% black. An average household income of nearly $153,000 may sound high, but in the bay area, it’s not much.
Graphic: google maps screenshot
Like so many blue cities, Alameda has another serious problem: they can’t recruit police officers:
That high starting salary, which most American officers would think a financial windfall, is minimal for the Bay area.The Alameda, California Police Department is offering new recruits a $75,000 signing bonus – the highest in the nation – on top of a $113,654 starting salary, which is more than officers make in major cities like San Francisco and Los Angeles.
But the department is still struggling to recruit, despite the hefty financial incentives.