Sahana Matthews

When Berkeley City Council member Terry Taplin and his partner lost their apartment in the Southside neighborhood and lived with Taplin’s mother for a few weeks, he came out to his mom. She kicked them out, making them temporarily homeless.

California State Sen. Nancy Skinner introduced two bills regarding police reform Monday⁠ — one to expand police transparency and the other to reduce police scope.

After multiple years of activism, a police accountability measure will be on the November 2020 ballot. If passed, the measure would amend the city charter and establish a police accountability board

Berkeley City Council members will vote Tuesday on whether to place a City Charter amendment measure from the Police Review Commission on the Nov. 3 general municipal election ballot.

The Police Review Commission met Wednesday to say goodbye to two commissioners and discuss policy 1301, which concerns the use of GPS tracking data. 

Discussion surrounding recommendations for Berkeley City Council and the city manager about police spit hood use policy dominated discussion at Wednesday night’s regular Police Review Commission, or PRC, meeting.

Within the last 10 years, Rodrigues said BPD has implemented programs such as an optional 38-hour training course for the crisis intervention team. The program teaches officers to know what signs to look for when dealing with people experiencing mental health crises.

As the Police Review Commission, or PRC, seeks to fulfill its task as Berkeley’s main police oversight body, it continues to face criticism from the community and grapples with its limited power.

The Berkeley Police Review Commission examined and debated changes to the recent Berkeley policy on body-worn cameras and was informed about the Berkeley Police Department's current hiring process at the commission's regular Wednesday meeting.

Emails from within the Berkeley Police Department show that the department created a policy of publicizing the photos and personal information of arrested protesters, as first reported by Mic.