Jesse Arreguín City Councilmember, District 4 ACTION CALENDAR June 17, 2014 (Continued from June 3, 2014) To: From: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council Councilmember Jesse Arreguín Subject: Implementation of Fair and Impartial Policing Policy, General Order B-4 RECOMMENDATION Adopt a motion: 1. Expressing the City Council s support for proposed General Order B-4, Fair and Impartial Policing Policy 2. Directing the City Manager to request that the Berkeley Police Department give final approval to General Order B-4 and implement the policy immediately, sending a Training and Information Bulletin to all department personnel on the new policy. While the pedestrian stop data collection may take time to fully implement, officers should be informed and implement the basic policy of fair and impartial policing with respect to race, gender, national origin, or sexual orientation. BACKGROUND At their March 26, 2014 meeting, the Police Review Commission (PRC) recommended that the City Manager adopt proposed General Order B-4, Fair and Impartial Policing. The policy was the product of over a year of discussion by the Berkeley Police Department and community stakeholders including the ACLU, NAACP and Coalition for a Safe Berkeley. The PRC formed a subcommittee to develop a policy, working closely with the Berkeley Police Department. The policy that resulted from that effort not only made it clear that the Department explicitly prohibits racial profiling and other biased policing. It reaffirms the Department s commitment to fair and impartial policing and clarifies procedures in the limited circumstances in which the department can consider race, gender and other demographic information of individuals. California Penal Code Section 13519.4(f) also prohibits racial profiling by law enforcement officers. This General Order helps to implement that state law. The policy makes clear that with the exception of limited circumstances and based on reasonable suspicion or probable cause, discrimination on the basis of a trait or class described in the policy is considered a serious allegation of misconduct. The policy also requires the collection of demographic statistical data for vehicle and pedestrian stops in the City of Berkeley. The collection of this data not only serves as a Martin Luther King Jr. Civic Center Building 2180 Milvia Street, 5 th Floor, Berkeley, CA 94704 Tel: (510) 981-7140 Fax: (510) 981-7144 TDD: (510) 981-6903 E-Mail: jarreguin@cityofberkeley.info Web: www.jessearreguin.com
deterrent for racial profiling or other biased policing, but also provides analytical data with which the Department and city officials can determine whether incidents of profiling occurred. As we have seen in New York City, at times law enforcement agencies have used racial profiling as a law enforcement strategy. The stop and frisk policy implemented in New York is guided by profiling suspects, and is unconstitutional and discriminatory. Even in Berkeley which has an excellent and well trained police force, and a city with a long history of progressive values, racial profiling has occurred throughout our city s history. At a recent NAACP forum on racial profiling held on May 10, 2014, numerous individuals told their stories of being stopped, questioned and even arrested for no legitimate reason. Given the reports of racial profiling happening in law enforcement agencies throughout the country, and individual cases happening in our own community it is critical that we move ahead immediately in implementing this important policy to protect the rights of all of our citizens. A letter dated April 16, 2014 from Michael Sherman, Chair of the Police Review Commission to City Manager Christine Daniel, stated the PRC s request that General Order B-4 be adopted without further delay. Yet to date the General Order has not been adopted or implemented. The purpose of this item is to not only seek Council approval of the policy but to direct the City Manager to implement the policy right away. FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS Unknown. Staff time involved in informing department personnel of the new policy, training officers, and costs associated with implementing the pedestrian data stop collection, including monitoring and reporting. CONTACT PERSON Jesse Arreguin, Councilmember, District 4 981-7140 Attachments: 1. April 16, 2014 letter from PRC Chair to City Manager and Proposed General Order B-4
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