UC-Berkeley Police Accountability Campaign Beginning

The ASUC Students Advocate's Office and COPWATCH sent this letter to the UC Berkeley Vice Chancellor asking for more police accountability of UC Berkeley cops, in light of the recent events -- both on and off campus. If you or your group would like to sign on to this letter, please contact Berkeley Copwatch.

May 7, 2002

Vice Chancellor Horace Mitchell
University of California, Berkeley
200 California Hall #1500
Berkeley, CA 94720-1500

Dear Vice Chancellor Mitchell:

We are writing to collectively express our dismay and dissatisfaction with the lack of independent police oversight at the University of California at Berkeley. Without the active presence of an independent police review board we fear that our campus' police officers are not being held accountable. As students and members of the community patrolled by those officers, we appeal to the duties of your office to address this critical situation.

Officer conduct at demonstrations and in other recent incidents, both on campus and in the surrounding community, brings this issue of accountability to the forefront. Copwatch has been alerted to the following incidents involving complaints against UC officers:

• In March of this year, UC officers handcuffed then intentionally tripped a Latino worker on Telegraph Avenue; landing on his face, he required stitches.
  
  
• In late February on Shattuck Avenue near Channing Way, an African-American woman and her male friend were stopped by UC officers without reasonable suspicion. In carrying out their forcible search, several officers pinned the woman to the sidewalk by sitting on her. Before releasing her, the officers complimented her on her strength.
  
  
• On February 25th the coordinator for the Copwatch sponsored De-Cal class was physically intimidated by UC officers for simply attempting to observe the issuance of a citation to a homeless person.
  
  
• Several complaints regarding excessive force resulting from chokeholds arise from the April 9th Wheeler Hall demonstration. While Berkeley's Municipal Police Department (BPD) and even the California Highway Patrol have discontinued the use of chokeholds, the UC Police Department (UCPD) continues to employ this dubious practice. (Likewise, the use of pepper spray against protesters, while prohibited by BPD, retains a place in UCPD's anti-demonstration arsenal.)

This list of abuses against UC officers ­ shortened here for brevity, not for any lack of complaints -­ continues to grow.

The current PRB lacks even the simplest tools necessary to deal with the aforementioned incidents. With no budget, no office nor even a telephone, it is not reasonable to expect the PRB to operate effectively (even the police department's internal affairs has a budget). Without the freedom to investigate complaints against officers concurrent to any police investigation, the PRB cannot be truly independent. Without public hearings, there is no hope of accountability. The PRB, with only a single community member, fails to accurately represent the constituency served by this University's police force. The presence of a former UC officer on the PRB runs counter to the notion of independence. How is it that our University, renowned for its high academic standards and a unique liberal atmosphere, has a police review body that is so transparently impotent?

The following changes are needed:

• The establishment of a truly independent civilian review board that meets common sense guidelines for effective oversight (such as those enumerated by the ACLU).
  
  
• The establishment of a "Right to Watch" policy that instructs officer to "put the least possible restrictions upon civilian observation of the police," similar to the City of Berkeley's policy.
  
  
• The prohibition of the use of the chokeholds and pepper spray against demonstrators.

These issues demand your immediate attention. Officer misconduct not only undermines the public's confidence in the department, it makes it that much harder for well-meaning officers to do their jobs. Stop fostering that "anything goes" attitude among officers nurtured for so long by you and your predecessors' continued refusal to implement meaningful reform. Stop ignoring the evidence that supports the need for an independent PRB. Stop ignoring the persistent requests, demands, and admonitions from faculty members, students and the community at large for meaningful change.

We look forward to your prompt response.

Sincerely,
ASUC Student Advocate's Office
204 Eshleman Hall
Berkeley, CA 94720
(510) 642-6912

Copwatch
2022 Blake Street
Berkeley, CA 94704
(510) 548-0425