Opinion: Taking police out of traffic enforcement will help Berkeley.
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 effor...