Aranas is gone, but now what?

Officer Sean Aranas "retired" from the UC Berkeley police force this August. There is reason to believe that increased community pressure is the reason for his departure. A petition against Aranas had gathered 58,000 signatures over the past 2 years.

Despite being on the UCPD for quite some time, Officer Aranas remained an Officer up to his departure. He never earned the accolade of a promotion to a higher higher rank. He did, however, earn the reputation of being one of the University's enforcer cops - the type of person who was let loose on protesters, members of Berkeley's active counter-culture, and other trouble makers the UC determined to be a threat to their agendas. Like in hockey teams, police agencies like to have members who start fights and rough people up. Unlike hockey though, policing isn't a game.

As long as Aranas got the job done, the UC would turn the other way and ignore any extra-legal tactics. Assaults, thefts of personal items, harassment, stalking, slapping people with false charges - it was all allowed by the University for over a decade. As long as he got the job done, the UC didn't care.

All the UC cops who worked alongside Aranas, who witnessed his aggressions and transgressions and stayed silent are still on the force. His commanding officers who buried the paper trail and hid video evidence of his actions are still present. The UCPD's legal team, and police union representatives are still in place. People in the Alameda County District Attorney's Office, who chose not to act on multitudes of citizen complaints, are still employed. People who hid or ignored evidence of his actions are still in their positions. The question is, has the system really changed?

The UC Berkeley police review board still only produces one report a year. The board has limited oversight, with absolute minimal public input. Compared to the city of Berkeley's review board, which meets twice a month on average, the UC's review board is barely existent. The last PRB meeting notes are from August 29th of 2018. In the past year, what have they done to place accountability upon the UCPD?

More needs to be done, before people can feel confident that there has been a culture change within the UC Berkeley police department. There would need to be more robust, more empowered police review board, with more public meetings. It could just be the case that Aranas was "retired" as a gesture to quell the public without any genuine committal to a system change.

There is also the argument that UC Berkeley doesn't need a police force at all. The UC isn't that big. The city's own police force could respond to emergencies and crime on campus. The city's own department could absorb any UCPD officers who meet their standards, and reject those who don't. Currently there are two forces, with their own standards of behavior, standards of training, and their own chains of command. Having one police force could lead to better oversight. Decommissioning the UC Berkeley police force would also significantly trim the public institution's budget.

Aranas was allowed to "retire" on his own terms. He wasn't fired. Aranas isn't necessarily out of action. It is often the case that officers who "retire" move to some other police agency. He could be recruited by BART or some other city. He isn't blacklisted from police work. There could be some other agency that needs an enforcer in their ranks.