Coalition for a Safe Berkeley

10/15/2015

Dollars from the feds for "security", in grants from UASI (Urban Areas Security Initiative) show that Berkeley is budgeted for $0 -- perhaps because the City Council must approve any UASI grants over $50,000 (due to previous organizing by the C4SB). Notice RICHMOND -- budgeted for $300,000 and taking $0. Once again, Richmond policing is showing that police can be responsive to the people.

10/02/2015

Close-up of the graph showing that Blacks make up 8% of the population of Berkeley, but account for 30.5% of all Berkeley Police Dept. stops. And, the error rate is MUCH higher for stops of Blacks. Only 31% of stops result in arrest, while 60% of BPD stops of white people result in arrest.

09/29/2015

Sept. 28, Tuesday, 11 am -- Press Conference --
Newly released data on police stops confirms local activists' and communities' of color charges of racial profiling in Berkeley. Data collected by the Berkeley Police Department reveals a pattern of discriminatory conduct against African American and Latino civilians.

Stops: Though Black people constitute less than 8% of Berkeley's population, they were 30.5% of those stopped by police; whites, comprising 60% of Berkeley, were 36.7% of those stopped.

Disposition: 38.1% of White people stopped by Berkeley police were eventually released without being either arrested or cited. However, 66.2% of African Americans were released without an arrest or citation, with Hispanics/Latinos close behind at 56.4%.

Searches: African Americans were 31% of civilians stopped, yet they were 57% of searches. Whites, on the other hand, were 37% of stops and only 14% of searches.

Local organizations will discuss the data and its implications in detail at the press conference on Tuesday.

05/03/2014

teenagers having fun on warm friday afternoon, laughing and throwing water balloons, until BPD arrived...

02/18/2014

Four days before the su***de at Berkeley High School, another man was found dead outside of Peet's on Shattuck and Kittridge. How Safe Is Berkeley?

http://www.dailycal.org/2014/02/10/homeless-man-found-dead-downtown-berkeley/

A man who was often seen on the streets in downtown Berkeley was found unresponsive on Thursday with no indication of foul play.

02/18/2014

A youth in his 20s, found dead at Berkeley High School on Monday. As stated by the school: “...at approximately 2:15 pm BHS staff discovered the body of a young man who appeared to have taken his own life. ...
BPD continues to investigate. At present BPD has described the man as being in his early 20′s and indications are that he hung himself."
http://www.berkeleyside.com/

Berkeley, CA's independent news site

02/13/2014

12/14/2013

http://thefreethoughtproject.com/americans-killed-cops-outnumber-americans-killed-iraq-war/

The increase in police brutality in this country is a frightening reality. In the last decade alone the number of people murdered by police has reached 5,000. The number of soldiers killed since the inception of the Iraq war, 4489. What went wrong? In the 19070’s SWAT teams were estimated to be use...

12/02/2013

http://www.ipsnews.net/2013/11/mental-illness-plus-police-often-equals-tragedy/

Just before midnight on Feb. 12, Kayla Xavier Moore’s roommate dialed 911. Moore, 41, a paranoid schizophrenic, was off her prescription meds and highly ag

12/02/2013

Blame-the-victim legislation, based on the killing of Andy Lopez, introduced by California legislature. The killer cop is the one that's at fault here. The killer cop trained others in weaponry, and should have been able to tell a toy gun from a real one! It's not Andy's fault that he was walking in his neighborhood.
Let's say it was a real gun, carried by someone with a permit. That person would be dead too! It was the cop that did the killing. So, if we're gonna have legislation to address this situation, let's have something that goes after the killer cop. Here's an easy one -- Overturn the legislative protection to killer cops, as explained in Copley v. Superior Count, and found in Penal Code sections 832.5, 832.7 & 832.8

http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/New-Law-Aims-to-Regulate-Toy-Guns-in-California-233014401.html

The death of a Bay Area boy and the paralysis of a Los Angeles teen - both shot while carrying replica rifles - are the human faces behind state legislation being introduced on Friday to crack down on...

10/23/2013

Great interview with Maria Moore and Annie Paradise about what happened to Kayla Moore in February, and the Police Review Commission hearing tonight. Interview around minute 20.
http://www.kpfa.org/archive/id/96416