Martin Luther King Jr Way & Allston Way
Berkeley, CA 94703
USA
An important Berkeley City Council meeting that will consider several actions promoting police accountability. Your voice is needed in this conversation.
Tuesday is a beginning of a year-long campaign for change in Berkeley policing. Please join with us to make history in Berkeley.
Highlights:
Item 14 (Bartlett): Referral to Peace and Justice Commission to divest from entities involved with creating databases or registries to target immigrants and religious minorities; and prohibit investment in all service providers to ICE. (To sail through on the consent calendar, it is important that no more than three community people speak to this item.)
Item 26 (Harrison/3 co-sponsors): Amend use of force reporting to require all use of force
Item 29 (Worthington, Harrison): Refer to PRC to write Charter Amendment for true police commission
See https://www.dropbox.com/s/4tjrulxjsh526mb/2017-10-31%20Agenda%20Packet%28WEB%29.pdf?dl=0
Item 26: require reporting of all use of force.
The importance of Council Member Harrison’s item is that use of force that does not involve a weapon, such as use of legs or arms, does not need to be reported to department management. If it is not reported internally, there is no way for the council, PRC, or the public to get a true picture of the overall use of force.This is out of step with all other area departments regionally and most nationally. This failure has been called out by the Center for Policing Equity in their report on BPD’s racial disparities.
The language on Item 26 has gone through changes over time. Here is the current summary from Kate Harrison’s office. It can be found in the Revised Materials, a link under Item 26 on the Agenda.
RECOMMENDATION
1. Direct the City Manager to amend Berkeley Police Department (“BPD” or “the Department”) General Order U-2: Use of Force (“General Order U-2”) to:
a. Enhance BPD’s use of force policy statement; and
b. Create a definition of use of force; and
c. Require that all uses of force be reported; and
d. Categorize uses of force into levels for the purposes of facilitating the appropriate reporting, investigation, documentation and review requirements; and
e. Require Use of Force Reports to be captured in a manner that allows for analysis; and
f. Require that the Department prepare an annual analysis report relating to use of force to be submitted to the Chief of Police, Police Review Commission (“PRC”) and Council.
2. Direct that the City Manager report to the Council by December 12, 2017 on the progress to date and present to the Council by February 27, 2018 a final version of General Order U-2.
3. Prior to implementation, the revised General Order U-2 shall be submitted to the PRC in accordance with BMC 3.32.090(B).
Item 28: Address racial disparities, enhance PRC power in Board of Inquiry process
Council Member Worthington’s item contains six reforms requested a year ago by the PRC. The first three address racial disparities, and the last three enhance the Board of Inquiry process.
On the issue of racial disparities, the PRC has been drafting detailed analysis and recommendations over the past year. These should be sent to Council by the end of the year. Mr. Worthington’s proposed reforms touch on some of the same issues that the PRC will address: tracking yield rates, developing training programs, and consulting/cooperating with communities most affected by observed racial disparities to develop and implement policy and practice reforms.
Therefore, points 1, 2, and 3 are positive and should be supported, and will be helpful when the specific PRC recommendations come up for consideration.
Points 4, 5, and 6 are very important enhancements to the civilian complaint review process. These are beginning steps to restore some level of relevance to the ground-breaking oversight that voters mandated in 1973. They are:
4. Subject to applicable law, provide the PRC with the same access to all department files and records, in addition to all files and records of other City departments and agencies, as the department’s Internal Affairs Division (IAD). The Department and other city departments and agencies will make every reasonable effort to respond to the PRC’s requests for files and records within (10) days.
5. Use the “Preponderance of the Evidence” as the standard of proof for Board of Inquiry decisions of the PRC.
6. Extend the current 120-day limit on the imposition of discipline to one year, consistent with existing California law.
These points may meet with strong staff and department resistance. Please contact me for clarification if you want to support these vital changes.
Item 29: Refer to PRC to write Charter Amendment for a true police commission
It is time to put an issue on the ballot to establish a truly independent commission that cannot be overruled by city management. It will have the power to view any evidence required for the oversight function, and to have more direct power over discipline as well as policy.