Transforming Berkeley’s Approach to Public Safety

Protests in Berkeley on June 6, 2020, called out injustice, police killings of Black Americans, white supremacy and intolerance. Photo: Ted Friedman / Berkeleyside

The murder of George Floyd in May, 2020, reinvigorated the Black Lives Matter movement, leading to nationwide demonstrations in June that asked city governments to review policing policies, including Berkeley’s largest rally in recent history. In Berkeley, we were quick to launch our public safety reimagining process to keep our community safe while addressing racial biases. This includes developing BerkDOT, a new division that will provide civilian traffic enforcement, piloting a Specialized Care Unit to have trained crisis-response workers respond to 911 calls that the operator evaluated as non-criminal and that posed no imminent threat to the safety of first responders, such as calls regarding mental health. This work will continue into 2023, in consultation with the public and stakeholders, with regular updates being provided.

On March 10, 2022, a Council work session took place to discuss the reports submitted by the Task Force and NICJR. You can read the reports here:

On May 5, Council voted to approve the Mayor’s proposals for reimagining public safety.

Specialized Care Unit

Launching in June 2023, the Specialized Care Unit (SCU), is a City partnership with Bonita House to create a 24/7 service consisting of trained crisis-response workers who would respond to 911 calls that an operator evaluates as non-criminal mental health calls and poses no imminent threat to the safety of first responders.

Originally proposed during the initial discussions around reimagining public safety, the pilot program will be tasked with responding to calls related to everything from concerns about suicidal thoughts and welfare checks to drug overdoses, intoxicated people and indecent exposure.

Berkeley Department of Transportation (BerkDOT)

Through its re-imagining process, the City has been further developing a new Berkeley Department of Transportation (BerkDOT). This department would be tasked with deploying unarmed traffic enforcement agents.

Currently, state law requires that a “peace officer” enforces the vehicle code, and, as such, BerkDOT requires a change at the state legislative level for this proposal to go forward. Fortunately, SB 50 (Haney) is being reviewed by the legislature and could result in removing the prohibition of local jurisdictions in providing traffic enforcement. If voted into law, BerkDOT is poised to further move forward later this year

Police Accountability Board

Approved by Berkeley voters in 2020 under Measure II, the Police Accountability Board (PAB) is the successor to the Police Review Commission (PRC), first established in 1973. The PAB, developed by a diverse coalition of stakeholders, builds upon the PRC to conform with current national best practices, better reflect the values of our community, and to honor the widespread demand for police reform.

Since its first meeting in 2021, the PAB has has investigated numerous complaints and strengthened the public’s ability to provide input and oversight over police conduct. Measure II also established the Office of the Director of Police Accountability, whose duties include accepting and investigating complaints filed by members of the public alleging misconduct by a Berkeley police officer.

Reimagining Public Safety Task Force

Learn More about the Task Force

On December 15, 2020, the City Council voted to establish a Reimagining Public Safety Task Force, which will serve as the hub of a robust community engagement process led by the National Institute for Criminal Justice Reform (NICJR). The Task Force provided input and made recommendations in partnership NICJR on the development of a report with recommendations and an implementation plan by NICJR for a new and transformative model of positive, equitable and community centered safety for Berkeley.

The Task Force was appointed with an eye toward ensuring a diversity of views, perspectives, and experiences including: (1) Representation from impacted communities including formerly incarcerated individuals, victims/family members of violent crimes, our immigrant community, (2) reflecting a wide-range of relevant expertise in areas such as violence prevention, youth services, mental health, public health, crisis intervention and restorative or transformative justice, law enforcement operations, city budget operations, and (3) commitment to the goals of the Task Force.