Stop Urban Shield

The question of Berkeley police’s relationship with UASI has been moved from a Police Review Commission subcommittee to the full commission

The question before the PRC is not whether to abrogate the BPD-UASI  relationship, but whether to add a rider calling on the city council to halt BPD participation in UASI-funded Urban Shield. As several of the commissioners expressed that they did not know enough about Urban Shield to take a position on it, an extra week is being taken for them to familiarize themselves with the issue.

You can help move the commission toward a negative recommendation on Urban Shield by doing two things:  speaking in public comment next Wednesday at 7, and providing written resources now for the commissioners to read in the interim (ASAP!).

Please note that these are centrist folks who see a lot of value in policing, and in disaster preparedness, and in regional cooperation among police agencies. And so forth.  They could be moved by non-rhetorical, mainstream sources.  Their process is like a cost-benefit calculation:  what does the BPD get out of the exercise, vs. what are the negatives for Berkeley?  Ideological statements will be a negative to getting them to reject Urban Shield.

If we are able to get the PRC to move against Urban Shield, that would be a major step forward in the Stop Urban Shield campaign.  Please help make this happen!