M.L.K. Jr Way & Hearst Ave
Berkeley, CA 94704
USA
The Berkeley Peace and Justice Commission meeting for tonight has been CANCELLED and postponed and rescheduled to next Monday night, November 9th. There is no city secretary available for tonight.
The Berkeley Peace and Justice Commission will discuss several important topics including:
1) Peace and Justice recommendations to Council about the December 2014 police response to protests, particularly mutual aid and tear gas where the PRC report was not strong. Possible support for PRC minority report.
2) Peace and Justice input on NCRIC, UASI/Urban Shield and other BPD agreements.
Your attendance and comment is welcome.
Statement to the Berkeley City Council on NCRIC and UASI Agreements
November 2, 2014
Berkeley Peace and Justice Commission
The BPD’s agreements with NCRIC, the Northern California Regional Intelligence Center, and UASI, the Urban Areas Security Initiative, come before you again on November 17. Peace and Justice reiterates our opposition to these relationships.
Every year since 2012 the BPD has released summaries of the Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) it sends to NCRIC, the regional intelligence fusion center. Each year the summary contains disturbing examples of reportage on constitutionally protected speech, belief, and association, and reporting on non-criminal activity, all in violation of 28 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 23 and your 2012 order that the Department abide by it.
Unfortunately the Department does not release the current year’s summary until slightly before the Council meeting, so the public is unable to verify whether its practice has improved. Regardless, the SAR process is prone to abuse and has been shown nationally to rely on tainted reports full of racial, ethnic, and political bias. Not only are Berkeley’s own reports tainted in this way, but Berkeley receives data from far more conservative jurisdictions that make little pretense of objectivity.
The Peace and Justice Commission therefore recommends against approval of the NCRIC agreement at this time.
*
With regard to the UASI agreement, strong community concerns have arisen about the Urban Shield exercise, which is paid for by UASI. With all the turmoil and pain this country has lived through in the past year, we should know that the burden of militarized policing falls most heavily on African American and other communities of color. We support the proposal by four members of the Police Review Commission to direct the BPD to take a one-year break from participation in Urban Shield, as a beginning to demilitarizing the police department.
Beyond Urban Shield, Peace and Justice remains concerned about the entire UASI relationship. The department should cease this relationship and find other ways to get the training and equipment it needs without this entanglement with the national security, Pentagon, and espionage network.
Sincerely yours,
Berkeley Peace and Justice Commission
Minority Report:
Berkeley Police Review Commission Investigation
December 6-7, 2014 Police Response to Black Lives Matter Protest
The undersigned PRC commissioners support the majority report, which is strong in many respects.
In a few particulars, the undersigned differ from the majority report. Below we state and explain our dissenting opinions.
Recommendations 18 and 22: CS gas
BPD:
We recommend that BPD review its policy regarding the use of CS gas and batons in crowd control situations.
PRC: (7.29.15)
BPD, in conjunction with the PRC, should review its policy regarding the use of CS gas and batons…with the intent of putting substantial constraints on the use of CS gas in crowd control and crowd management.
>> The undersigned commissioners recommend: Prohibit CS gas in crowd control and crowd management:
Recommendation #29: Media credentialing
BPD: We recommend the BPD Public Information Officer investigate the viability of establishing a regional media credentialing system.
PRC (10.8.15)
No policy should be implemented until the matter has been referred back to the PRC to establish a subcommittee to allow for a full discussion and formulation of a policy.
>> The undersigned commissioners recommend: Support regional media credentialing, but through a system not managed by law enforcement. Police should not be involved in determining who is legitimate media. The policy should be to recognize all media even if not credentialed by the police, and if in doubt to allow people to film and photograph.
Recommendation #31: Video surveillance
BPD
We recommend the Department invest in quality video cameras, live stream capability and video capture software to improve situational awareness.
PRC (9.16.15)
The PRC recognizes the need for the Department to make better-informed decisions in crowd control situations. Therefore, the department needs access to real time surveillance tools. Gathering such information will require some degree of surveillance, which raises concerns regarding citizens’ privacy. We recommend that the Council make a determination of what, if any, surveillance tools should be considered for use, and then refer the matter to the PRC to obtain community input and work with the BPD to establish the appropriate guidelines for such use.
>> The undersigned commissioners recommend adding this sentence: “PRC should be asked to make a recommendation on any proposal for a surveillance tool before a decision is made to adopt the tool.”
Recommendation: Mutual Aid
PRC (10.8.15)
We believe it is critical for BPD to communicate to mutual aid responders the values of the COB, including de-escalation tactics, before and during a crowd event. BPD should continue to review its briefing and communication practices to make every effort for mutual aid responders with our policies. We request that the BPD make specific recommendations on strategies and procedures to achieve these goals.
>> The undersigned commissioners recommend: Abide by state law, section 8618 of the Legislative Code which states, “Unless otherwise expressly provided by the parties, the responsible local official in whose jurisdiction an incident requiring mutual aid has occurred shall remain in charge at such incident, including the direction of personnel and equipment provided him through mutual aid.”[1]
Abide by the Law Enforcement Mutual Aid Plan prepared by the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services which states that “the jurisdiction requesting mutual aid” is responsible for “advising responders what equipment they should bring.” [2]
Abide by the 1992 the Berkeley City Council resolution mandating that the BPD take direct supervisory responsibility for all mutual aid units deployed to the maximum extent amount allowable by law.[3]
The BPD is accountable for the actions of other departments participating in a mutual aid activity in Berkeley. Therefore, the department should account for what policing equipment is brought into Berkeley, in particular what type of less-lethal projectiles and chemical agents, and how many rounds are discharged by mutual aid participants, what type of strikes were delivered, and how many civilian injuries were reported.
Pathfinders, BPD personnel assigned to accompany mutual aid agencies in Berkeley, will not only facilitate communication but play an active role in supervising mutual aid and ensuring that mutual aid act under BPD command and follow BPD policies.
[1] http://codes.lp.findlaw.com/cacode/GOV/1/2/d1/7/11/s8618
[2] http://www.caloes.ca.gov/LawEnforcementSite/Documents/1Blue%20Book.pdf
[3] “That the BPD take direct supervisory responsibility for all mutual aid units deployed to the maximum amount allowable by law…advise such units that they will be expected to comply with [BPD] regulations and policies,” and that if there are conflicts with other agencies over policies which cannot be resolved, “BPD reserves the right to elect not to deploy those units affected….Where the City of Berkeley has adopted more stringent standards, those will take precedence over county-wide standards within Berkeley.” http://www.berkeleyside.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/2003-09-09-Item-54-57.pdf