Subject: RE: ROC meeting concerns
[ROC Stands for "Russell, Oregon, and California Street Neighborhood Organization - ed]
Date: Mon, 30 Jun 2003 14:44:41 -0700
Ms. Menard:
Shootings:
The BPD response to the recent shootings in South Berkeley is an excellent example of what we are trying to achieve with Community Involved Policing. We recognized the problem very quickly and then devoted extensive resources toward reducing the threat in the neighborhoods and solving the cases.
This included the combined efforts of several units in the department including the patrol teams, detectives, community services and the entire special enforcement unit. Several lieutenants have been working together on this problem and six officers have been deployed on overtime each day. We have also been giving information to the Oakland PD regarding the crimes and spending some of our time in Oakland tracking down the involved parties.
The result of this proactive police work has been many arrests, many probation/parole searches and search warrants, the recovery of guns, including automatic weapons. While the violence has stopped, we continue to devote a great many of our resources to this problem.
In addition to this hard police work, Officer Rittenhouse coordinated community outreach by notifying groups on his e-mail list and making
personal contact at local community facilities such as the YMCA, the Young Adult Project and Head Start. We also got the word out to the community through press releases and newspaper coverage.
4th of July:
The department will have over 50 additional officers on duty Friday night for the 4th of July. There will be close to 75 officers working all
together. Many of these officers have been ordered in to work on the holiday and their normal day off. One of the daytime teams will be held over for several hours past the normal end of their shift and the nightshift will come in several hours early to increase coverage. Most of these officers will be devoted to the marina and the fireworks display, which is one of the largest events in the City each year.
Patrol will be handled by the normal complement of officers. Our experience has been that most calls for service on the 4th of July are related to the concerns you have raised. Since other types of calls for service are usually lower on this holiday, officers are able to give more attention to the disturbance calls. Every other community is faced with similar issues on the 4th and like the others, we will do the best we can to keep the peace.
Unlicensed vehicles:
Officers address this problem by citing drivers and towing their cars when the law permits. Officers often tow cars for registration violations after they have been reported as abandoned. Parking Enforcement Representatives issue thousands of registration violation citations each year. If you are aware of specific cars that are in violation, please report them to dispatch at 981-5900 and an officer will be sent to handle the violation.
Loud Car Stereos:
Officers enforce these vehicle code violation when cars are driven on the streets. When the cars are parked the vehicle code does not apply. We can use section 415 of the penal code after giving a warning, but we must have a citizen who is willing to pursue the matter by making a citizen's arrest and following through with prosecution. Officers trend to focus their attention on the issues that generate calls for service. By reporting these disturbances, particularly parked cars with loud music, you and other ROC members can assist us in addressing the nuisance.
I have sent a message to officers requesting additional enforcement of vehicle noise violations.
Douglas N. Hambleton
Patrol Captain
Berkeley Police Department
2100 Martin Luther King Jr. Way
Berkeley, CA 94704
(510) 981-5800
dhambleton@ci.berkeley.ca.us