Oakland has a police academy and a fire academy, intensive training programs where cadets are given skills they’ll need to work as police officers and firefighters.

In two years, it will also have a community violence intervention academy.

The city of Oakland’s Department of Violence Prevention is working with the Urban Peace Institute , a Los Angeles-based nonprofit, to create a training program for violence interrupters , unarmed civilians who de-escalate situations and prevent retaliation after shootings and other forms of violence. The first training cohort will launch in 2027.

Oakland’s violence intervention academy will be modeled after Urban Peace Institute’s peace academy , which was established in 2008. It launched after an audit found that even though Los Angeles spe

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