UC Berkeley Law Staff Respond to Campus Police Reform Report

The employees are urging the campus community to participate in public comment regarding the 27 recommendations made in the report.

UC Berkeley Law Staff Respond to Campus Police Reform Report

Thirty-one staff members involved in the UC Berkeley School of Law’s Staff Community Circle on Anti-racism (SCAR) plan to send a letter to the chancellor following the release of a report outlining recommendations for campus police reform.

On June 30, Chancellor Carol Christ’s Independent Advisory Board (IAB) on Police Accountability and Community Safety released the 96-page report with the deadline to submit feedback by Aug. 7, reports The Daily Cal. The employees at Berkeley Law are urging the campus community to participate in public comment, stating ongoing support for police reform is needed for the IAB’s recommendations to be implemented.

The report includes 27 recommendations for improving equity in ensuring community safety. It has been developed over the past year using city and campus policing data and community listening sessions. Campus spokesperson Dan Mogulof said administrators will not implement IAB’s recommendations until it hears from the community.

Among the recommendations in the report are:

  • Demilitarizing UCPD, including an audit and removal of all military-grade equipment
  • Data transparency regarding police practices and outcomes on and near campus
  • Establishing “Know Your Rights” orientations for the campus community that are organized by an entity other than UCPD
  • Fully integrating mental health resources into UCPD’s training; resources made more available to UCPD officers
  • Prioritizing specialized mental health response over police-based responses

SCAR’s letter supports IAB’s recommendations to integrate mental health resources into police training. It also suggests other recommendations be strengthened, such as taking the recommendation to eliminate military-grade equipment further by also restricting the use of nonlethal weapons such as tear gas and pepper spray.

Alexey Berlind, a member of SCAR and staff member at Berkeley Law’s Human Rights Center, said staff feedback on the report is important since they have unique insight into the work that goes into making policy change happen.

“We get an inside view on how things work here, and we understand things work slowly and bureaucratically,” he said. “Making these recommendations into policy is going to require widespread popular support, which can come this week in the form of public comment.”

Nikki Jones, IAB’s faculty co-chair, said public comment is an opportunity for community members to add ideas for improving safety that the report might have missed.

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Amy is Campus Safety’s Executive Editor. Prior to joining the editorial team in 2017, she worked in both events and digital marketing.

Amy has many close relatives and friends who are teachers, motivating her to learn and share as much as she can about campus security. She has a minor in education and has worked with children in several capacities, further deepening her passion for keeping students safe.

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2 responses to “UC Berkeley Law Staff Respond to Campus Police Reform Report”

  1. Gene Harris says:

    Please define military grade equipment. Not to long ago there was an outcry that police didn’t have less lethal tools to use instead of shooting people. Now they have the less lethal tools and there is an outcry to not let police use them???

    This seems like a can’t have your cake and eat it to. I am a retired Police Sergeant and glad I am retired. I thank God for those still willing to put their lives on the line for all the good people and knuckleheads out there, and pray for their protection from attack no matter where it comes from, criminals or government, sometimes they are the same thing.

  2. Kam says:

    Let UC Berkley try it without the police at all.

    This liberal bastion of supposed higher education needs to sink into the ocean for good.

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