Tag Archives: Berkeley Police Association
Police union: Should Berkeley have Tasers?
The Berkeley Police Officers Association has sent out a survey to 19,000 Berkeley residents asking them their opinion on police use of Tasers.
The BPA posed seven questions in a March 27 email survey to see whether the community considers Tasers as way to assist police and protect suspects, or the opposite.
“This is a very initial step to find out what the community sense is … and go from there,” said Sgt. Chris Stines, the president of the BPA, which represents more than 150 rank-and-file officers. … Continue reading »
Police contract agreed after 15 months of negotiations
After lengthy negotiations, the City of Berkeley and the Berkeley Police Association (BPA) have reached agreement on a new three-year contract that forgoes cost of living increases, creates a second tier CalPERS pension formula for new employees, mandates cost sharing by employees in the employer’s contribution to CalPERS, and significantly changes retiree health benefits.
The new agreement was approved by the BPA at a July meeting by 107-21. It will be considered by the City Council at its September 11 meeting.
“I think it’s a fair agreement,” said Tim Kaplan, president of the BPA. “It was a long process, but it really was the true sense of collective bargaining. There was a lot of work done by the Police Association negotiating team to come up with creative solutions to the problems the city was facing. The state of the economy is not lost on our members at all. We’re helping in a number of ways through concessions.” … Continue reading »
Berkeley police officers honored for distinguished service
The Berkeley Police Association honored seven Berkeley police officers for their outstanding service to the community in an awards ceremony on May 3 at Freight & Salvage.
The officers were honored for a variety of actions, including chasing down and apprehending a murder suspect, providing life-saving CPR and other medical treatment, and spearheading a program to help police officers deal with stress from the difficult demands of the job.
“We honor today those officers whose extraordinary work and heroic actions distinguish them from an already outstanding group of officers,” Said Officer Darrin Rafferty, the secretary of the Berkeley Police Association.
The awards ceremony started 30 years ago, he said. The last time awards were handed out was in 2007. … Continue reading »
Questions remain about Berkeley police chief’s actions
Update 2:10 pm: Statement from Berkeley Police Association added below.
A contrite Berkeley police chief spent Saturday afternoon fielding calls from the media to explain why he ordered a sergeant to go the house of a reporter at 12:45 a.m. on Friday to ask for changes in an article the chief thought was inaccurate.
Chief Michael Meehan profusely apologized for his actions, but declined to provide specifics about the incident.
“I was in the wrong,” Chief Meehan said. “It could have, and should have waited until the morning. It was a significant error of judgment on my part.”
To regain the trust of the press, Chief Meehan will order “an independent review of the Department’s policies and practices regarding release of information to the media,” he said in a statement. He wants the Berkeley Police Department to look at the best media policies of other police departments around the country and adopt them. … Continue reading »
