Two police oversight board members resign in protest, saying Berkeley ignores its work

"The two most senior members of Berkeley's Police Accountability Board have resigned in protest of what they described as an obstructionist city administration and a police department bent on undoing hard-won reforms by the civilian oversight agency's predecessor. The departures of Kitty Calavita and Julie Leftwich, which they announced Friday in a joint letter, leaves the PAB with just four members and follows months of growing tension between the city's oversight apparatus and its police department and administration."

"Berkeley residents voted by a wide margin in 2020 to create the PAB and an administrative counterpart, the Office of the Director of Police Accountability, intending to strengthen civilian oversight of the police department. But Calavita and Leftwich, who were the last two original members of the board, wrote that they have seen firsthand that the PAB has not been permitted to exercise its expanded oversight authority and is even less empowered than its predecessor, the Police Review Commission, on which they also sat."

Kitty Calavita and Julie Leftwich, the two most senior members of Berkeley's Police Accountability Board, resigned in protest, leaving the board with four members. They cited an obstructionist city administration and a police department moving to undo hard-won reforms. The PAB is meant to have nine regular members, one appointed by each City Council member and the mayor, plus an alternate. Over 84% of Berkeley voters approved creation of the PAB and an Office of the Director of Police Accountability in 2020 to strengthen civilian oversight. The resigning members said the PAB has been prevented from exercising expanded authority and noted BPD actions including rewriting a use-of-force policy and stonewalling access to records about racist texts.

Read at www.berkeleyside.org