Extra

On Thursday, April 13, it’s time to express your concerns about the Berkeley City Council's rushing to vote on the promotion of Berkeley’s police chief, Jen Louis. The Council meeting is at 3:00 pm in the Redwood Room on the sixth floor of City Hall, 2180 Milvia Street, or on Zoom.. To join by phone: Dial 1-669-254-5252 or 1-833-568-8864 (Toll Free) and enter Meeting ID: 161 801 7241. 

Berkeley residents are entitled to constitutional policing and officers who will be held to account if racist or other inappropriate behavior is displayed. Under the interim Police Chief Jen Louis, the 150+ officers under the chief’s command had arrest quotas, designs to target people of color, inappropriate claims for overtime, and insensitivity to poor people suffering from Covid-19 or homelessness. It is a department failure not to end a culture of police racism and bias. The City Council must appoint a police chief who will manage the Police Department in a way that reflects Berkeley values, those of justice, equity, and equal application of the law. 

Berkeley City Manager Dee Williams-Ridley promised the residents of Berkeley and the City Council that the permanent hire of the Police Chief, would be suspended until the completion of full investigations by an independent law firm, Swanson and McNamara, and by the community-based Police Accountability Board. Neither investigation is complete. 

Act now to tell the City Council to vote NO on appointing Louis as permanent police chief.