In July 2020, as part of the reimagining public safety omnibus, Berkeley City Council referred to the city manager the creation of a new Berkeley Department of Transportation (BerkDOT), in part to eliminate or reduce pretextual traffic stops. Their referral suggests combining within BerkDOT transportation planning and engineering, as well as unarmed, non-police equitable traffic enforcement. As a coalition of community members with expertise spanning transportation, criminology, public policy, urban design, public health, and law, we hope to use this two-part op-ed to contextualize this effort. The first part, presented below, provides context and data behind the issue. Part 2 will outline potential solutions and our vision for BerkDOT’s role in those solutions.
Reeling from a depressed economy and increased crime, Oakland Chinatown enters city s policing debate
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Armed security members from Goliath Protection Group, contracted and funded by a GoFundMe crowdfunding campaign, patrol on Webster Street in the Chinatown district of Oakland, California Tuesday, Feb. 16, 2021.Photos by Stephen Lam / The ChronicleShow MoreShow Less
2of7A grocery worker, right, passes a bundle of fresh longan to a woman in the Chinatown district of Oakland, California Tuesday, Feb. 16, 2021. Community members are on heightened alert after the recent increase in violent crimes, many caught on camera, toward the Asian American community throughout the Bay Area. Despite an increased police presence, armed private security, and volunteer groups patrolling the area around Oakland Chinatown, many businesses continue to worry and are taking extra precautionary measures such as boarding up storefronts and closing hours earlier despite how the pan
Berkeley votes to limit low-level traffic stops to reduce policing disparities
Officers will focus on investigative stops and pulling over dangerous drivers rather than “random observations of minor equipment violations,” Police Chief Andrew Greenwood said.
Berkeley police will focus on safety- and investigation-related traffic stops while limiting stops for “low-level” offenses. Photo: Jerome Paulos
Officials voted unanimously Tuesday night to deprioritize traffic stops in Berkeley for “low-level” offenses, such as not wearing a seat belt or having expired registration tags, and focus police efforts instead on driving violations related to traffic safety.
The decision was part of a package of police reform efforts approved Tuesday night to address racial disparities in policing that have been documented in Berkeley and around the nation. A working group convened by Mayor Jesse Arreguín, composed of academics, activists, police and city officials, came up with the re
Community support in Oakland for non-police responses to mental health calls
By Keith Burbank article
OAKLAND, Calif. - A task force created by the city of Oakland following the death of George Floyd and calls to defund Oakland police issued a series of draft recommendations, including one to make immediate investments in a non-police response to mental health calls, that drew support Wednesday from a coalition of groups critical of the Police Department.
On a Zoom call, the Defund Oakland Police Coalition said it disagrees with only six of the 114 recommendations put forward by the Reimagining Public Safety Task Force.
Oakland plan to replace police with mental health workers in disarray sfchronicle.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from sfchronicle.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.