The city of Berkeley's police department - which reports to the Mayor's Office - has also failed its constituents. After conducting a thorough reviewof the aforementioned incident, none of the officers in question were held accountable for their conduct. Similarly, after Berkeley police wrongfully killed Kayla Moore in 2013, they were cleared of all wrong-doing despite substantial evidence pointing to numerous and serious examples of misconduct.[1] After additional evidence of misconduct was leaked to the Daily Cal, the Department proved it was more concerned with shielding its officers from accountability than either justice or transparency, and launched a lawsuit in response to the leak rather than addressing the issue which had been revealed.[2]
In like fashion,the Berkeley police department has also refused to address the substantial evidence pointing toward racial profiling in its everyday activities. After representatives from the Berkeley NAACP, Berkeley Copwatch and UC Berkeley’s Black Student Union presented data at city hall showing that, from a sample size of 4,700 police stops:
- 30.5% of stops involved black motorists, even though black people make up only 8% of Berkeley’s population.
- White motorists made up 36.7% of the stops, though they make up 60% of the city’s population
Similarly, with respect to searches, the data revealed that out of all African Americans who were stopped, 19.1% were subjected to a search, but only 4% of Whites who were stopped were also searched. Of Latinos stopped, 13.4% were searched.[3]
In response to these findings, Berkeley Police Chief Michael Meehan said that he disagreed with the conclusion that this constituted evidence of racial profiling, even while admitting he hadn't reviewed the data. He then remarked that the coalition's presentation "raised more questions than answers." Well Mr. Meehan, our campaign has an answer.
SOLUTION:
Vote for Zachary Runningwolf, and elect the mayoral candidate who publicly supports Black Lives Matter and has consistently called attention to and committed to addressing these issues. Specific changes we will implement include:
- Retraining the police to protect the community from the police under the leadership of Officer Ludlow
- Cutting the $200,000 average yearly (40 mil total) salary of the Berkeley Police Department in half, and use this money to strengthen other badly needed services for the community
- Strengthening the Police Review Commission with the power to indict, conducting a thorough review of police activities and holding officers accountable for misconduct
- Ending the UCPD-BPD mutual aid contract which primarily functions to repress labor & student protests
[1] http://www.berkeleycopwatch.org/resources/Peoples_Investigation_Kayla_Moore_2013.pdf
[2] http://www.sfgate.com/crime/article/Berkeley-cop-sues-over-document-leak-in-Kayla-5670570.php
[3] http://www.berkeleyside.com/2015/09/29/berkeley-coalition-says-police-stops-show-racial-bias/
On December 6, 2014, a number of Berkeley Police officers corralled a group of non-violent, mostly student protestors and - completely unprovoked - began to violently beat them.
These protestors were taking part in a peaceful demonstration in response to the frequent and repeated police killings of black people throughout the United States - and the subsequent failure of the criminal justice system to hold police officers accountable for their misconduct, violence, and crimes.
Platform: Police Violence
BERKELEY CAMPAIGN CENTER