Applications are due Monday, Feb. 8, for the city’s new policing task force. An online town hall on racial equity that had been planned for this week has been postponed.
Policing
Posted inCity
Berkeley police reform work to ramp up in January
Officials are forging ahead with efforts to reimagine policing in Berkeley and voted unanimously Tuesday night to launch a new community task force focused on that work in January.
Posted inCity
Berkeley hopes new Ceasefire program will curb violence
Citing an “alarming rise in shootings” this year, officials pledged Tuesday night to work to create a new Ceasefire program designed to “address gun violence” in Berkeley.
Posted inCity
Berkeley police will track, share more use-of-force data under new rules
Berkeley officials voted early Friday morning to adopt an updated use-of-force policy for police that will expand what types of force officers track and report, and how they make this information available to the public.
Posted inCity
Berkeley council approves ‘omnibus motion’ on police reform
The city will work to create a new transportation department with a “racial justice lens” and a Specialized Care Unit staffed by a “network of crisis responders” to respond to non-criminal calls, among other changes.
Posted inCrime & Safety
Davila calls for council vote against Berkeley police chief Tuesday night
“New leadership is required,” said Councilmember Cheryl Davila in an item she submitted Tuesday. Council will also discuss a raft of other items related to police reforms.
Posted inCity
Berkeley pares $9.3M from police budget amid clamor for reform
The Berkeley City Council shifted more than $9 million out of the police department budget Tuesday night to help pay for a range of reforms called for by community members and city officials alike in recent weeks.
Posted inCity
City pledges to change policing so ‘law enforcement as we know it is not necessary’
Officials have promised to overhaul what public safety looks like in Berkeley in response to protests that have resonated across the city and nation in recent weeks.
Posted inCity
Berkeley is holding a virtual town hall June 11 on race, health and policing
Members of the community can hear from, and talk to, City Manager Dee Williams-Ridley, Police Chief Andrew Greenwood and Health Officer Dr. Lisa Hernandez.
Posted inCity
Officials ban tear gas in Berkeley, approve other police reforms
The City Council voted unanimously Tuesday night to ban tear gas permanently and stop the police use of pepper spray and smoke during demonstrations that take place amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
Posted inCrime & Safety
He was punched in the face at Santa Rita Jail. He died 10 days later. His family wants answers.
It took 14 months for authorities to release their investigation into how Michael Hermon died from injuries he sustained during a fight at Santa Rita Jail in 2019. The Gulf War veteran had been one day shy of freedom.
Posted inCommunity
Berkeley police department reviews its investigation into missing 66-year-old man
A dispatcher who took a call from a tipster who had seen David Boutelle allegedly told her the missing man had been found when he hadn’t.
