The system of civilian oversight over Berkeley police, created with support of 85% of voters five years ago, is navigating one conflict after another these days.
Several times in the last year, the city’s police department refused to turn over records to the Police Accountability Board (PAB) and police accountability director unless subpoenaed. The City Attorney’s Office typically represents the PAB and the Director of Police Accountability in legal matters, despite complaints that it presents at least the appearance of a conflict — the same lawyers also represent the police department, with which the PAB occasionally wrangles.
Accountability board members spent years reviewing racist, anti-homeless text messages between members of a Berkeley police unit, only to have their final recommendations for policy changes within the Berkeley Police Department (BPD) largely brushed aside earlier this year, with the city arguing BPD had undertaken enough reform already…