Berkeley City Council votes 5-4 to let police, firefighters stay in Urban Shield
The Berkeley City Council voted 5-4 Monday night to let the city’s first responders, including police, join in this year’s Urban Shield exercise.
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Urban Areas Security Initiative
Berkeley mayor calls special meeting to vote again on Urban Shield
Berkeley officials are set to vote Monday afternoon, during a special meeting, on whether to allow city police officers to take part in Urban Shield tactical exercises this year.
Tension, as mayor withdraws vote to ban Berkeley police from 2018 Urban Shield
With questions raised over whether city officials can legally make decisions about police training, Mayor Jesse Arreguín pulled his support from a recent vote on Urban Shield.
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Berkeley council may pull police from Urban Shield exercises in 2018
City officials have voted, preliminarily, to keep BPD out of Urban Shield despite protests from the city manager’s office and the police and fire chiefs.
Watch: Berkeley neighbors take part in active-shooter drill
Despite initial resistance, a neighborhood group held its first active-shooter drill in Berkeley. One participant said she now knows what to do if it happened for real.
Opinion: We owe it to our community and our neighbors to engage and transform Urban Shield
Urban Shield may be in need of a course correction, but that does not mean we should simply disengage from it.
Opinion: Why Berkeley must withdraw from Urban Shield
The importance of Urban Shield in training police to respond to disasters is exaggerated. Berkeley should exit the program to rebuild good faith between police and people of color.
Opinion: Councilman Bartlett voted the wrong way on Urban Shield
While it took a majority to turn their back on their citizens on the Urban Shield decision, I am particularly dismayed by City Councilman Ben Bartlett’s vote.
Protesters say police injured activists after Urban Shield vote
Activists who protested two arrests made after a city council meeting say an elderly man was hit by a police baton in the aftermath.
Opinion: The federalization of local police — and why the Urban Shield vote failed
Jesse Arreguín not only failed to lead the resistance, but actually reversed votes the council had made in December 2015 to pull out of Urban Shield.
Opinion: If the city won’t stop Urban Shield, the people will
With the vote to remain in Urban Shield, and the deployment of the already highly weaponized police force, representative government on Tuesday failed the city of Berkeley.
Opinion: Need any more proof that Urban Shield is poisonous?
Berkeley’s mayor, City Council, and every member of its police force should be ashamed of their decision to continue with the poisonous disaster that is Urban Shield.
