By Judith Scherr
BERKELEY -- The city has had
civilian review of its police since 1973.
But on May 1, the city manager
halted all hearings into alleged police misconduct, citing the disclosure of
confidential Police Review Commission findings leaked to UC Berkeley's Daily Californian
newspaper.
"This breach of
confidentiality is not only outrageous, it is a crime," Berkeley Police
Association attorney Harry Stern wrote to the city manager May 1, when it came
to light that the newspaper would soon publish leaked information from a
closed-door hearing on alleged police misconduct in the February 2013
in-custody death of Kayla Moore, an African American transgender woman with a
history of mental illness.
Stern called for action to
"suspend all pending PRC investigations until the source of the leak is
found."
City Manager Christine Daniel
reacted to the pending disclosure -- the Daily Cal had informed Daniel of the
leak when it contacted her asking for comment -- by suspending the city
requirement for police officer attendance at hearings.
"Until the city has had an
adequate opportunity to ensure that the required confidentiality will be
maintained, I will not direct officers to participate," Daniel wrote to
the City Council on May 1.
Attorney Jim Chanin, who helped
write the law establishing the PRC through an initiative passed by voters, and
who served as PRC commissioner, also said the breach of confidentiality is
wrong.
However, he said that should
not disrupt civilian oversight of the police.
"To punish the voters who
passed the PRC (ordinance), by prohibiting police officers from testifying in
front of the PRC because of what one person may have done, one time, is not
only unprecedented and morally wrong, but it thwarts the will of the voters who
voted for the PRC," Chanin said.
The police misconduct
allegations that were the subject of leaked information revolved around a Feb.
2013 incident that began with a call to police from Moore's roommate, saying
she needed a 72-hour psychiatric hold. Struggling to place Moore in handcuffs
and leg restraints, police straddled the 347-pound woman face down on a
mattress. Moore stopped breathing during the struggle.
The coroner attributed her
death to drug intoxication, obesity and an enlarged heart.
The May 7 Daily Cal article by
Executive News Editor Kimberly Veklerov, written with the UC Berkeley
journalism school investigative reporting program, revealed, among other
confidential data, that the PRC found unanimously that an officer failed to
constantly monitor Moore's vital signs while restrained face down, as required
by Berkeley police regulations.
PRC hearings were held in an
open format until 2006. But a California Supreme Court decision and a Berkeley
Police Association lawsuit against the city resulted in PRC investigations,
hearings and findings going behind closed doors.
It's not clear when PRC
hearings will resume.
The city has taken steps toward
that end.
It has investigated all staff
with access to PRC records, and "concluded that no staff member released
the records," Daniel wrote in a May 9 memo to the PRC.
Daniel further asked the
commission to reaffirm its commitment to confidentiality, which it did at its
March 14 meeting.
These steps are good, BPA
attorney Stern said in a phone interview. But he noted that they stop short of
identifying the individual, which he believes is a commissioner, who leaked the
information.
While Police Review Commission
Officer Katherine Lee said the city manager doesn't have the authority to
investigate commissioners, Stern contends the city can "have an outside
party do that."
Asked if the city would hire an
outside investigator, city spokesman Matthai Chakko responded in an email that
"We will be working with the PRC and the BPA on the next steps."
In his letter to the city
manager, Stern warned that "the release of a California peace officer's
personnel records is a criminal offense" and that "the PRC is subject
to civil liability for this invasion of privacy and defamation."
Asked whether that indicated a
lawsuit is in the offing, Stern underscored his respect for the civilian review
process and said he would prefer not to resolve the issue in court.
"That would be the last
resort," he said.