Berkeley police officers are trying to identify at least five people who covered the front of the station with graffiti last week during a “defund the police” protest.
Several of the participants in the July 13 protest, which was otherwise peaceful, have said the people who vandalized the station were “tagalongs” who were not part of the main event, and that organizers told them to stop.
The messages, which covered the department’s front wall and windows, included slogans such as “Kill cops,” “The only good cop is a dead cop,” and ACAB, an abbreviation meaning “All Cops Are Bastards.”
On Friday, BPD released photographs of two of the individuals they said did some of the tagging. Police believe those two people are at least 18 years old.
Police said there were also three girls whose photographs they could not share because they are minors. Police did release descriptions of those individuals, however.
All three of the girls were described as white. One had a thin build, blond hair in a ponytail and wore a light blue mask, black tank top and black pants. The second had a thin build, black hair in a ponytail and wore a yellow bandana face covering, black top and black pants. The third had a medium build, long brown hair and wore a black shirt and black shorts.
Initially, police thought only three people were responsible for the vandalism. Detectives later reviewed information from the community and building surveillance recordings and “now believe there were at least five” people responsible.
Police said the vandalism at the Public Safety Building, at 2100 Martin Luther King Jr. Way, happened at about 6 p.m. In addition to police operations, the building houses the city’s 911 call center, the Emergency Operations Center for the COVID-19 response and fire department administration.
In addition to painting the front of the station, individuals also vandalized a nearby statue, a parked vehicle and the roadway.
Police ask anyone with information about this crime or the people responsible for it to call BPD’s Property Crimes Unit at 510-981-5737.
