Tuesday, March 24, 2026 AGENDA Page 1
P R O C L AM AT I O N
C AL L I N G A S P E C I AL M E E T I N G O F T H E
B E R K E L E Y C I T Y C O U N C I L
In accordance with the authority in me vested, I do hereby call the Berkeley City Council in special session as follows:
Tuesday, March 24, 2026
4:00 PM
SCHOOL DISTRICT BOARD ROOM - 1231 ADDISON STREET, BERKELEY, CA 94702
ADENA ISHII, MAYOR
Councilmembers:
DISTRICT 1 – RASHI KESARWANI DISTRICT 5 – SHOSHANA O’KEEFE DISTRICT 2 – TERRY TAPLIN DISTRICT 6 – BRENT BLACKABY
DISTRICT 3 – BEN BARTLETT DISTRICT 7 – CECILIA LUNAPARRA DISTRICT 4 – IGOR TREGUB DISTRICT 8 – MARK HUMBERT
This meeting will be conducted in a hybrid model with both in -person and virtual attendance. Attend this meeting remotely using Zoom. To request to speak, use the “raise hand” function in Zoom. To join by phone: Dial 1-669- 254-5252 or 1-833-568-8864 (Toll Free) and enter Meeting ID: 161 845 7872. To provide public comment, Press *9 and wait to be recognized by the Chair. To submit a written communication for the public record, email [email protected].
Live captioned broadcasts of Council meetings are available on B -TV (Channel 33) and via internet video stream.
All Council meetings are recorded.
This meeting will be conducted in accordance with the Brown Act, Government Code Section 54953. Any member of the public may attend this meeting, however, if you are feeling sick, please do not attend the meeting in person.
The City Council may take action related to any subject listed on the Agenda.
Pursuant to the City Council Rules of Procedure and State Law, the presiding officer may remove, or cause the removal of, an individual for disrupting the meeting. Prior to removing an individual, the presiding officer shall warn the individual that their behavior is disrupting the meeting and that their failure to cease their behavior may result in their removal. The presiding officer may then remove the individual if they do not promptly cease their disruptive behavior. “Disrupting” means engaging in behavior during a meeting of a legislative body that actually disrupts, disturbs, impedes, or renders infeasible the orderly conduct of the meeting and includes, but is not limited to, a failure to comply with reasonable and lawful regulations adopted by a legislative body, or engaging in behavior that constitutes use of force or a true threat of force.
Government Code Section 84308 (Levine Act) - Parties to a proceeding involving a license, permit, or other entitlement for use are required to disclose if they made contributions over $5 00 within the prior 12 months to any City employee or officer. Parties and participants with a financial interest are prohibited from making more than $500 in contributions to a decisionmaker for the 12 months after the final decision is rendered on the proceeding.
The above contribution disclosures and restrictions do not apply when the proceeding is competitively bid, or involves a personnel or labor contract. For more information, see Government Code Section 84308.
Tuesday, March 24, 2026 AGENDA Page 2
Preliminary Matters
Roll Call:
Worksession
Public comment is limited to items on this agenda only. The public may comment on each item listed on the agenda as the item is taken up.
The Presiding Officer will request that persons wishing to speak line up at the podium, or use the "raise hand" function in Zoom, to determine the number of persons interested in speaking at that time. Up to ten (10) speakers may speak for two minutes. If there are more than ten persons interested in speaking, the Presiding Officer may limit the public comment for all speakers to one minute per speaker. Speakers are permitted to yield their time to one other speaker, however no one speaker shall have more t han four minutes. The Presiding Officer may, with the consent of persons representing both sides of an issue, allocate a block of time to each side to present their issue.
Action items may be reordered at the discretion of the Chair with the consent of Council.
1. 2025 Berkeley Police Department Annual Report
From: City Manager
Contact: Jennifer Louis, Police, (510) 981-5900
Adjournment
I hereby request that the City Clerk of the City of Berkeley cause personal notice to be given to each member of the Berkeley City Council on the time and place of said meeting, forthwith.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the official seal of the City of Berkeley to be affixed on this 19th day of March, 2026.
/s/ Adena Ishii, Mayor
Public Notice – this Proclamation serves as the official agenda for this meeting.
ATTEST:
Mark Numainville, City Clerk
NOTICE CONCERNING YOUR LEGAL RIGHTS : If you object to a decision by the City Council to approve or deny a use permit or variance for a project the following requirements and restrictions apply:
1) No lawsuit challenging a City decision to deny (Code Civ. Proc. §1094.6(b)) or approve (Gov. Code 65009(c)(5)) a use permit or variance may be filed more than 90 days after the date the Notice of Decision of the action of the City Council is mailed. Any lawsuit not filed within that 90 -day period will be barred. 2) In any lawsuit that may be filed against a City Council decision to approve or deny a use permit or variance, the issues and evidence will be limited to those raised by you or someone else, orally or in writing, at a public hearing or prior to the close of the last public hearing on the project.
Archived indexed video streams are available at: berkeleyca.gov/council-agendas.
Channel 33 rebroadcasts the following Wednesday at 9:00 a.m. and Sunday at 9:00 a.m.
Communications to the City Council are public record and will become part of the City’s electronic records, which are accessible through the City’s website. Please note: e-mail addresses, names, addresses, and other contact information are not required, but if included in any communication to the City Council, will become part of the public record. If you do not want your e-mail address or any other contact information to be made public, you may deliver communications via U.S. Postal Service
Tuesday, March 24, 2026 AGENDA Page 3
to the City Clerk Department at 2180 Milvia Street. If you do not want your contact information included in the public record, please do not include that information in your communication. Please contact the City Clerk Department for further information.
Any writings or documents provided to a majority of the City Council regarding any item on this agenda will be made available for public inspection at the public counter at the City Clerk Department located on the first floor of City Hall located at 2180 Milvia Street, and through the City's online records portal:
https://records.cityofberkeley.info/.
Agendas, agenda reports, and revised/supplemental material may be accessed via the online agenda for this meeting at: berkeleyca.gov/council-agendas
and may be accessed at reference desks at the following locations:
City Clerk Department - 2180 Milvia Street, First Floor Tel: 510-981-6900, TDD: 510-981-6903, Fax: 510-981-6901 Email: [email protected]
Libraries: Main – 2090 Kittredge Street,
Claremont Branch – 2940 Benvenue, West Branch – 1125 University, North Branch – 1170 The Alameda, Tarea Hall Pittman South Branch – 1901 Russell
COMMUNICATION ACCESS INFORMATION:
This meeting is being held in a wheelchair accessible location.
To request a disability-related accommodation(s) to participate in the meeting, including auxiliary aids or services, please contact the Disability Services specialist at [email protected], (510) 981-6418 (V), or (510) 981-6347 (TDD) at least three business days before the meeting date.
Attendees at public meetings are reminded that other attendees may be sensitive to various scents, whether natural or manufactured, in products and materials. Please help the City respect these needs.
Captioning services are provided at the meeting, on B -TV, and on the Internet. In addition, assisted listening devices for the hearing impaired are available from the City Clerk prior to the meeting, and are to be returned before the end of the meeting.
If you have obtained interpretation services for your use during a City Council meeting and would like to request assistance, please contact the City Clerk Department at (510) 981 -6900, [email protected], or in-person during the meeting.
Questions regarding public participation may be addressed to the City Clerk Department (510) 981 -6900 or by email at [email protected].
2180 Milvia Street, Berkeley, CA 94704 Tel: 510.981.7000 TDD: 510.981.6903 Fax: 510.981-7099 E-mail: [email protected]
Office of the City Manager
WORKSESSION
March 24, 2026
To: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
From: Paul Buddenhagen, City Manager
Submitted by: Jennifer Louis, Chief of Police
Subject: 2025 Berkeley Police Department Annual Report
INTRODUCTION
At the request of City Council, the City Manager provides regular reports on crime in Berkeley. The Berkeley Police Department Annual Report details 2025 year-end crime, collision, stop data and use of force data. This annual report also serves to provide a number of status updates on Council referral items, department initiatives and legislative mandates.
CURRENT SITUATION AND ITS EFFECTS
The mission of the Berkeley Police Department is to safeguard our diverse community through proactive law enforcement and problem solving, treating all people with dignity and respect. The Department works in service to the community and in partnership with the community, the Office of the Director of Police Accountability and the Police Accountability Board, as well as other City Departments and our regional partners.
The Berkeley Police Department understands the importance of partnering with the community and maintaining accountability. We are committed to being transparent about our policies and actions, to sharing data and information, and welcoming suggestions on enhancing our service quality as we safeguard our community. To help achieve that goal, the Department launched our Transparency Hub in 2023. That hub gives the public an accessible platform to analyze critical data and insights related to policing activities, calls for service, crimes, traffic safety, and community engagement. It can be accessed at bit.ly/bpd-transparency and provides near-real-time, area-specific data directly to our community.
2 The Police Department’s Annual Report is an opportunity to provide a more comprehensive update which is attached here and will be presented to Council during the Special Meeting on March 24, 2026. This report covers a range of topics beyond the traditional reporting on crime and collision data. It includes reporting on staffing levels, specific information on call volume, type and response, efforts related to fair and impartial policing initiatives, crime and public safety problem solving responses, as well as other important departmental efforts.
ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY AND CLIMATE IMPACTS
There are no identifiable environmental effects, climate impacts, or sustainability opportunities associated with the subject of this report.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS
Specific fiscal implications related to items referred to within this report are addressed in the biennial budget process. Additional information of costs can be provided as needed.
CONTACT PERSON
Chief Jennifer Louis, Police Department, (510) 981-5700 Strategic Planning and Accountability Manager Arlo Malmberg, Police Department (510) 981-5700
ATTACHMENT
1. 2025 Berkeley Police Department Annual Report
2025 Berkeley Police
Department Annual
Report
March 24, 2026
2025 Berkeley Police Department Annual Report
1 Contents
Introduction .......................................................................................................................................................... 2 Staffing & Workload.............................................................................................................................................. 3 Staffing .............................................................................................................................................................. 3 Calls for Service ................................................................................................................................................. 4 Workload .......................................................................................................................................................... 5 Department Initiatives ...................................................................................................................................... 6 What We’ve Done ........................................................................................................................................ 6 How We’re Doing ......................................................................................................................................... 7 What’s Next .................................................................................................................................................. 8 Crime & Investigations .......................................................................................................................................... 9 Crime Data ........................................................................................................................................................ 9 NIBRS Group A ................................................................................................................................................ 10 Select Crime Categories .............................................................................................................................. 13 Department Initiatives .................................................................................................................................... 15 What We’ve Done ...................................................................................................................................... 15 How We’re Doing ....................................................................................................................................... 18 What’s Next ................................................................................................................................................ 19 Road Safety & Collisions ..................................................................................................................................... 20 Collision Data .................................................................................................................................................. 20 Department Initiatives .................................................................................................................................... 22 What We’ve Done ...................................................................................................................................... 22 How We’re Doing ....................................................................................................................................... 23 What’s Next ................................................................................................................................................ 23 Accountability ..................................................................................................................................................... 24 Stop Data Report ............................................................................................................................................ 24 Use of Force Report ........................................................................................................................................ 26 Looking Ahead .................................................................................................................................................... 30
2025 Berkeley Police Department Annual Report
2 Introduction
The Berkeley Police Department's 2025 Annual Report provides an annual snapshot of our activities, progress, and challenges over the past year. Additional information and daily updates can be found on our Transparency Hub. This year's report reflects a department that continued to deliver high-quality professional service under persistent staffing constraints. Our standard of care does not change because staffing is lean. To meet that standard, we made deliberate investments in the tools and strategies that allow us to do more with our limited resources.
Mission: United in service, our mission is to safeguard our diverse community through pr
oactive law enforcement and problem solving, treating all people with dignity and respect.
Vision: The Berkeley Police Department will be a team of leaders at every level. We will foster strong relationships with our community, inspiring trust through our service, building on our historic tradition of progressive policing, and dedicated to the safety of all.
Values: Service is our calling. As members of this community, the Berkeley Police Department team is committed to proactive law enforcement and problem solving, holding these as our core values:
• Integrity: We are ethical, fair, and trustworthy in all we do. • Safety: We strive to keep our community and each other safe. • Respect: We fulfill our duties with dignity, compassion, and empathy. • Diversity: We value the strength of a diverse workplace and community. We endeavor to reflect the community we serve, promoting inclusion and fairness. • Professionalism: We commit to organizational excellence through progressive training, positive attitude, and superior performance.
In 2025, we built on the foundational work of recent years and began to see results. Our staffing remains a challenge but we made progress in how we use the resources we have. The establishment of a Flex Team framework, initially staffed on a part-time basis, brought focused, data-driven operations to problems like organized retail theft and produced 141 arrests across 23 operations. Building on those results, BPD is standing up a full-time Flex Team in Spring 2026 with three dedicated officer positions. Our Automated License Plate Reader program directly contributed to 58 arrests in its first full year. And while we investigated one homicide via knife, for the first time in at least a decade, Berkeley recorded zero fatal or injury shootings.
These results reflect a deliberate shift: rather than asking our officers to simply absorb more with less, we are working to match the right resources and tools to the right problems.
This report documents our progress in 2025 and outlines where we are headed. As you will see in the data and initiatives that follow, the investments this department has made in people, in community partnerships, and in technology are producing measurable improvements in public safety outcomes. We invite our community and its representatives to review these results and join us as we continue this work together.
2025 Berkeley Police Department Annual Report
3 Staffing & Workload
Berkeley police responded to 60,374 calls for service in 2025 while operating well below authorized staffing levels. Despite these constraints, the department maintained competitive response times and continued expanding the Community Service Officer program. Recruitment efforts for dispatchers were a particular focus, with the department hosting specialized hiring events and participating in public safety recruitment fairs throughout the year.
Staffing
The department currently employs 154 officers, 144 of whom are available to work as solo police officers- well below the current authorized strength of 174 sworn personnel (reduced from 181 prior to the last budget cycle).
The department is authorized for 32 dispatcher positions (reduced from 36 prior to the last budget cycle) and 4 dispatch supervisor positions (down from 5) but is currently staffed with 20 dispatchers and 4 supervisors- also well below ideal staffing levels. To address this shortage in the Communications Center, the team leveraged dispatch-qualified personnel while intensifying recruitment. Key efforts in 2025 included hosting a specialized BPD dispatch seminar in April and participating in several public safety recruitment fairs to attract qualified candidates.
We have continued expanding our Community Service Officer (CSO) capacity, with authorization having increased from 22 to 28 positions in the Fiscal Year 2024 budget, where it remains today. We continue working towards full CSO staffing to enable additional CSOs to transition to our patrol teams. Additional information on the CSO program follows below.
2025 Berkeley Police Department Annual Report
4 Calls for Service
BPD responded to 60,374 calls for service in 2025, a slight decrease of approximately 2% from 2024. Of those, 27,341 were non-emergency calls, 15,543 were officer-initiated, 16,255 were 911 calls, 1,214 were submitted online, and 21 were transferred from an automated service.
Non-emergency calls dropped by roughly 5% and online reports declined by nearly 14%, while officer-initiated calls decreased slightly by about 3%. The most significant trend was a continued rise in 911 calls- up around 6%, reaching their highest level in several years. Because 911 calls require the department's most urgent response, this increase signals growing demand for immediate assistance
in critical situations.
Call volume continues to
vary significantly across
the city. As illustrated in
the heat map, City Council
District 4 again recorded
the highest call count
among all districts in 2025.
These patterns directly
inform BPD's deployment
decisions, including where
to direct additional
resources such as the Bike
Unit to maintain timely
response in areas with
elevated demand.
2025 Berkeley Police Department Annual Report
5 Workload
Average calls for service per officer per shift rose sharply through 2023, peaking at 6.3 before beginning to come down. In 2024 and 2025, that number declined to 6.2 and then 6.0, reflecting the early impact of programs designed specifically to reduce the burden on patrol officers.
The most direct contributors to that decline are the CSO patrol program, the Bike Unit, and the Flex Team. Each of these programs was built with the goal of bringing the right resources to each community need.
The three patrol CSOs who completed field training in 2025 independently handled over 1,500 non-emergency calls, routine reports, and traffic control assignments, all calls that previously would have gone to patrol. The Bike Unit has similarly allowed BPD to maintain timely response in high-demand areas like District 4 without pulling officers from other beats. The Flex Team's proactive retail theft operations target the organized offenders driving repeat calls for service rather than waiting to respond after the fact.
The result is a workload trend that, for the first time in several years, is moving in the right direction. With three additional CSOs transferring to patrol in 2026 and the Flex Team expanding to three dedicated officer positions, the department expects this trend to continue.
Overtime remains essential for maintaining minimum staffing on every shift, and overall call volumes remain elevated compared to Covid-era levels, but the investments made in 2024 and 2025 are producing measurable relief for the officers handling them.
2025 Berkeley Police Department Annual Report
6 Department Initiatives
What We’ve Done
Community Service Officers in Patrol and Investigations The CSO patrol program, which revives a successful approach from the early 2000s, was created in 2024 and fully rolled out in 2025. Three CSOs completed their field training and began independently handling non-emergency calls, routine reports, and traffic control on patrol.
Together, they responded to
over 1,500 calls for service in
their first year.
That volume matters. Every
call a CSO handles is one that
doesn't pull a sworn officer
away from higher-priority
work. With emergency call
volumes elevated and staffing
still below authorized levels,
CSOs give us a practical way
to keep up with demand
while freeing officers for the
situations that require them
most.
We hope to be fully staffed at
the CSO position soon,
enabling additional CSOs to
transition to our patrol
teams. As the program grows,
we also plan to expand CSO
roles into investigations,
where they can support
detectives with evidence
collection, report
preparation, and data entry.
The CSO program is also a key
piece of the City's broader
Reimagining Public Safety initiative, which has been working since 2020 to build a more community-centered approach to public safety in Berkeley. A core goal of that effort is shifting work that doesn't require a sworn officer to other trained professionals. Patrol CSOs are one of the most concrete examples of that idea in practice, and their results in 2025 show the model works.
2025 Berkeley Police Department Annual Report
7 How We’re Doing
Even as the Department navigates
staffing challenges and rising 911 call
volume, response times remain
strong. Speed of response is one of
the most direct measures of whether
our community receives the service it needs in critical moments, and our 2025 data shows BPD continues to perform well relative to the region.
The table below provides a snapshot of median response times across priority levels for Berkeley and nearby cities. Priority levels, with 1 being the most urgent, are determined by the whether the call is in progress or “cold” as well as the seriousness of the call type. Definitions for priority levels vary by jurisdiction, so we have included the corresponding share of calls for each level where data was available to illustrate the differences in definitional boundaries. The figures shown below reflect the most recent data published by that agency.
Median Response Times
(minutes)
Level 1
(% of all calls)
Level 2
(% of all calls)
Level 3
(% of all calls)
Level 4
(% of all calls)
Berkeley (2025) 7 (12%) 18 (30%) 54 (17%) 55 (30%)
San Francisco (2025) 9 (11%) 28 (23%) 77 (65%) -
Oakland (2024) 9 (20%) 240 (50%) - -
San Jose (2025) 7 (3%) 28 (28%) - -
Comparison cities chosen based on data availability and region While our response times compare favorably to nearby agencies, the increasing volume of 911 calls and persistent staffing constraints mean that maintaining these numbers will require more than personnel alone. Tools like a Drone as First Responder program offer the potential to get eyes on scene even faster, not because our current times are inadequate, but because faster situational awareness leads to better outcomes for officers and the community alike.
Our median response time for Priority 1 calls was 7
minutes, meeting or exceeding regional standards.
2025 Berkeley Police Department Annual Report
8 What’s Next
Communication Center Initiatives
BPD's Communications Center has operated below strength for years, and by the start of 2025, almost half of our dispatch positions were vacant. That level of shortage put real strain on working dispatchers and limited our ability to operate at the pace our community needs.
Closing that gap is a top priority and the investments we've made this year position us for meaningful progress in 2026.
As part of an ongoing workgroup in collaboration with the Fire Department, we have built a foundation of initiatives designed to grow and sustain the Communications Center
for the long term.
On the recruiting side, quarterly Virtual Recruiting Events have reached 1,197 potential candidates, and our
partnership with All Star Recruiting continues to expand our applicant pool. We also rolled out CritiCall, a pre-
employment assessment candidates can complete on their
own time. By testing for the core skills the job actually requires like typing speed, data entry, decision-making, listening, and multitasking under pressure, we can direct our resources toward candidates most likely to succeed, and those who advance come in better prepared.
The training pipeline itself has been redesigned to support stronger outcomes. A new Call Taker position gives recruits a more manageable entry point, allowing them to build foundational skills before taking on the full scope of dispatch operations. Early results are encouraging, with new Call Takers completing training at a higher rate and we expect this model to pay dividends as we continue hiring.
Two additional initiatives are moving toward implementation. Protocol-based dispatching tools have been identified, and stakeholder discussions are being finalized; once in place, standardized call-handling procedures are expected to improve training outcomes, reduce workload stress, and increase overall efficiency. We are also exploring a virtual agent to triage non-emergency calls, which would reduce routine call volume for dispatchers and improve response times for higher-priority requests.
We hired nine new dispatchers in 2025, though attrition resulted in a net gain of three. That is a reminder of why recruiting alone isn't enough. Retaining and better onboarding the people we bring in is just as critical as filling seats. With the structural changes now underway, we enter 2026 with a clearer path toward a Communications Center that is adequately staffed and built to stay that way.
2025 Berkeley Police Department Annual Report
9 Crime & Investigations
Berkeley saw broad improvements in crime trends in 2025. Shootings fell 40%, robberies dropped 20%, commercial burglaries declined 31%, and vehicle thefts were cut nearly in half.
Total Group A offenses fell 11% overall, driven primarily by an 18% reduction in property crimes. Robberies continued their decline below pre-COVID levels, and vehicle thefts- while still above pre-pandemic rates- dropped to their lowest point since 2021.
Not all trends moved in the right direction. Felony sexual assaults rose from 78 to 96, agg
ravated assaults increased 16%, and hate crimes reached their highest five-year total at 50.
On the enforcement side, BPD recovered 114 firearms, the Flex Team conducted 23 retail theft operations.
Crime Data
To accurately interpret our crime data, it is essential to distinguish between the three primary stages of police
response: calls for service, case reports, and formal criminal charges. Calls for service represent the public’s initial request for assistance, or a report of criminal activity requiring police response and investigation. When our
response yields evidence that suggests that a crime has occurred, officers conduct investigations and document
their findings in a case report. Once complete, these cases undergo a legal review to determine if the evidence
warrants formal charges by the District Attorney.
Simultaneously, this data is processed and compiled for submission to the California Department of Justice (DOJ), ensuring our local activity is accurately reflected in state and federal crime reporting databases.
In 2024, we transitioned from the Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Summary Reporting System (SRS) to the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) for data submitted to the California Department of Justice. NIBRS provides a more complete picture of criminal incidents:
it records every offense in an incident rather than just the most serious one, distinguishes between attempted and completed offenses, collects weapon details for all violent crimes, and gathers detailed information about victims, offenders, and their relationships. With two years of NIBRS data now in hand, we are beginning to establish the year-over-year baselines that will support more meaningful trend analysis going forward.
2025 Berkeley Police Department Annual Report
10 NIBRS Group A
NIBRS Group A offenses fall into three categories: Crimes Against Persons, Crimes Against Property, and Crimes Against Society. Unlike the older Summary Reporting System, NIBRS records every offense in an incident, providing a more detailed and accurate picture of criminal activity. 2025 marks the second year of Berkeley's NIBRS reporting, allowing for the first direct year-over-year comparisons under this system.
The Berkeley NIBRS report is as follows:
Group A Crimes
CRIMES AGAINST PERSONS
2024 2025 Percent Change
HOMICIDE OFFENSES Murder 4 1 -75%
Negligent Manslaughter 1 0 -100%
Justifiable Homicide 0 0 NC
SEX OFFENSES Rape 43 63 47%
Sodomy 11 12 9%
Sexual Assault with Object 11 15 36%
Fondling 57 45 -21%
Incest 0 0 NC
Statutory Rape 4 1 -75%
ASSAULT OFFENSES Aggravated Assault 482 561 16%
Simple Assault 840 838 0%
Intimidation 296 248 -16%
KIDNAPPING / ABDUCTION
& HUMAN TRAFFICKING
Kidnapping / Abduction 60 65 8%
Human Trafficking, Commercial
Sex Acts
0 0 NC
Human Trafficking, Involuntary
Servitude
0 0 NC
TOTAL CRIMES AGAINST PERSONS 1,809 1,849 2%
NC – NON-CALCULABLE
2025 Berkeley Police Department Annual Report
11 CRIMES AGAINST PROPERTY
2024 2025 Percent Change
ROBBERY Robbery 221 177 -20%
BURGLARY/ THEFT Burglary/ Breaking & Entering 788 719 -9% Larceny / Theft Offenses 4,420 3,696 -16%
Motor Vehicle Theft 1093 572 -48%
PROPERTY DESTRUCTION Arson 48 58 21%
Destruction of Property 770 658 -15%
FRAUD & FINANCIAL CRIME Counterfeiting / Forgery 77 115 49% Fraud Offense 680 662 -3%
Embezzlement 15 8 -47%
Extortion / Blackmail 25 32 28%
Bribery 0 1 NC
MISC. PROPERTY CRIME Stolen Property Offenses 140 118 -16%
TOTAL CRIMES AGAINST PROPERTY 8,277 6,816 -18%
NC – NON-CALCULABLE
CRIMES AGAINST SOCIETY
2024 2025 Percent Change
DRUG OFFENSES Drug/ Narcotics Violations 313 338 8%
Drug Equipment Violations 360 536 49%
REGULATORY OFFENSES Gambling Offenses 0 0 NC
Pornography/ Obscene Material 12 14 17%
Prostitution 0 0 NC
Weapons Law Violations 240 216 -10%
2025 Berkeley Police Department Annual Report
12 ANIMAL CRUELTY Animal Cruelty 8 7 -13%
TOTAL CRIMES AGAINST SOCIETY 933 1,111 19%
NC – NON-CALCULABLE
TOTAL GROUP A OFFENSES
2024 2025 Percent Change
CRIMES AGAINST PERSONS 1,809 1,849 2%
CRIMES AGAINST PROPERTY 8,277 6,816 -18%
CRIMES AGAINST SOCIETY 933 1,111 19%
TOTAL GROUP A OFFENSES 11,019 9,776 -11%
NC – NON-CALCULABLE
Note: The 2024 figures shown in this report reflect finalized data submitted to the California Department of Justice and may differ slightly from the preliminary figures published in last year's annual report. These revisions are a normal part of the NIBRS reporting process as incidents are reclassified or updated.
2025 Berkeley Police Department Annual Report
13 Select Crime Categories
With only two years of NIBRS data available, the following section uses statutes and internally tracked categories to monitor trends across key crime types. This framework draws on legal definitions alongside in-house classifications and provides the first year-over-year comparisons under our current reporting system. The five-year view in each table combines pre-NIBRS and NIBRS-era figures to preserve historical context while the newer system matures. Because these categories are tracked independently from NIBRS, totals for a given offense may differ slightly from the NIBRS Group A figures above. Prior-year figures in these tables reflect the numbers as originally published in each year's annual report.
Robberies
Robberies 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
Pedestrian 119 148 205 106 88
Commercial 118 117 135 97 64
Home Invasion 8 8 5 2 9
Bank/ ATM 6 4 2 1 2
Carjacking 14 15 39 15 14
Total 265 292 386 221 177
By Gun (% of total)
74 (28%)
69 (24%)
111
(29%)
41 (19%)
20 (11%)
Shootings
Shootings 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
Non-Injury 44 38 24 17 15
Injury 6 12 8 5 0
Fatal 0 3 2 3 0
Total 50 53 34 25 15
Sexual Assaults
Sexual Assaults 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
Felony 57 89 97 78 96
Misdemeanor 50 81 62 42 40
Total 107 170 159 120 136
2025 Berkeley Police Department Annual Report
14 Property Crimes
Select Property Crimes 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
Commercial Burglaries 316 435 574 396 274
Vehicle Thefts 1098 836 1350 1053 567
Catalytic Converter Thefts 573 847 457 312 248
Hate Crimes & Incidents
Hate Crimes 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
Race/Ethnicity/National Origin 29 24 27 20 28
Religion 11 3 9 10 13
Sexual Orientation 2 11 9 14 9
Gender 0 0 0 0 0
Disability 0 0 1 1 0
Total 42 38 46 45 50
Hate Incidents* 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
Race/Ethnicity/National Origin 16 22 24 21 33
Religion 1 5 19 12 4
Sexual Orientation 4 4 7 4 5
Gender 0 0 0 0 1
Disability 1 0 0 0 1
Total 22 31 50 37 44
*Hate incidents are acts of prejudice that are not crimes and do not involve violence, threats, or property damage.
2025 Berkeley Police Department Annual Report
15 Department Initiatives
What We’ve Done
Combatting Gun Violence
The foundation for BPD's approach to gun violence was built over the last several years. In 2025, that work matured into measurable results: zero gun violence related homicides or injuries for the first time in at least a decade, and a 40% drop in shootings (from 25 to 15).
Our partnership with the City-run Gun Violence Intervention and Prevention Program (GVIPP) and community-based organizations Live Free and the National Institute for Criminal Justice Reform (NICJR) continued to anchor the prevention side. GVIPP provides life coaching, mentorship, and direct support services to individuals most at risk, and responds to incidents including shooting scenes and hospital visits. GVIPP also continued its capacity-building work with Berkeley-based organizations like Berkeley Tech and the Berkeley HUB, and maintained regional coordination with Oakland's Department of Violence Prevention and Richmond's Office of Neighborhood Safety.
On the enforcement side, gun arrests rose 31% (from 58 to 76) even as overall gun cases dropped 38% (from 150 to 93). That combination tells an important story: there are fewer gun incidents in Berkeley, and when they do happen, we are making arrests at a higher rate.
Detectives continued expanding proactive follow-up investigations and search warrants, recovering 114 firearms associated with crimes. Of those, 52 came from search warrants and 17 from proactive traffic stops.
2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
Total Guns Seized as Evidence 108 121 86 110 114
Every recovered firearm is processed through the National Integrated Ballistic Information Network, a nationwide collaboration coordinated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms that connects ballistic evidence from shooting scenes with records of firearm ownership and purchase. The department also processes each weapon for DNA and fingerprints to identify individuals involved in shootings or illegal possession.
Beyond enforcement, detectives and patrol officers continued to coordinate with GVIPP to connect impacted individuals and families to life coaching, mentorship, and support services in line with the department's dual approach of holding offenders accountable while investing in the community conditions that prevent future violence.
These results reflect what a sustained, multi-year investment in both community partnerships and targeted enforcement can produce. The goal for 2026 is to sustain this momentum through the same combination of enforcement, investigation, and community partnership.
2025 Berkeley Police Department Annual Report
16 Automated License Plate Readers (ALPR)
With Council approval, BPD deployed its ALPR network citywide in 2025. The technology has fundamentally improved how officers patrol and how detectives investigate crimes spanning a range of serious offenses including robbery, kidnapping, carjacking, burglary, weapons violations, organized retail theft, stolen property, and DUI.
On the patrol side, ALPRs give officers real-time alerts when a stolen vehicle or a vehicle linked to a felony enters the city. Before ALPRs, spotting these vehicles depended almost entirely on an officer happening to recognize a plate or match a description. Now, officers are notified immediately and can respond with confirmed information rather than suspicion. In 2025, the system generated 621 stolen vehicle alerts and 78 felony vehicle alerts. Each one of those is a moment where an officer received actionable information they otherwise would not have had.
That precision means more targeted stops and less risk for both officers and the public.
For investigations, the impact has been just as significant. Detectives now have access to historical plate data that lets them track suspect vehicle movements after the fact, build timelines, and connect cases that might otherwise stay isolated. This has been especially valuable in robbery investigations, where suspect vehicles often appear across multiple incidents. ALPR data gives detectives the ability to link those cases together and identify patterns that would have been extremely difficult to piece together manually.
In its first full year, the ALPR program contributed to at least 37 stolen vehicle recoveries, played a role in 58 arrests, and supported 121 cases.
The value of the ALPR system multiplies when it operates as part of a regional network. Vehicles involved in crimes frequently travel across city lines, and when neighboring agencies share ALPR data, a suspect vehicle flagged in one jurisdiction can be identified in another and apprehended by local officers. Berkeley Police Department’s system is integrated into this broader regional infrastructure, enabling officers and detectives to track suspect vehicles throughout the East Bay. This regional connectivity transforms ALPRs from a local tool into a resource multiplier for public safety across the region, allowing for coordinated, timely, and effective law-enforcement responses.
ALPRs are a critical component of a broader strategy to provide officers with better real-time information. When patrol officers have more accurate intelligence before arriving on scene, they make better, safer decisions. When detectives can analyze vehicle movement across both time and geography, they can solve cases more efficiently and effectively.
The ALPR program's first year has shown what that looks like in practice, and its role will only grow should Council approve to continue and expand public safety technologies.
2025 Berkeley Police Department Annual Report
17 Flex Team Operations
In 2025, BPD stood up a dedicated Flex Team by creating a ne
w Flex Team Sergeant position to run targeted, data-driven operations. The results speak for themselves: 23 operations, 141 arrests, and a theft clearance rate that has jumped from around 10% in prior years to 20% since operations began.
The Flex Team's primary focus has been organized retail theft, which has evolved from a series of isolated shoplifting calls into a more organized, regional problem. Rather than
responding to these incidents one by one after the fact, the Flex Team uses crime
data and partnerships with local
businesses and loss prevention teams to run proactive
operations that catch suspects during the commission of a theft. Apprehending people in the act significantly increases the likelihood of successful prosecution and sends a clear deterrent signal to regional theft crews.
What those operations uncovered went well beyond retail theft: nearly 72% of those arrested faced additional criminal charges including identity fraud, possession of burglary tools, narcotics offenses, and outstanding warrants for crimes as serious as kidnapping and carjacking. On two occasions, individuals were arrested with illegally possessed firearms. 42% of those arrested were on probation or parole at the time, or their arrest qualified as a felony under Proposition
36. Feedback from retail partners has been overwhelmingly positive, with some reporting that their shrinkage has
dropped by nearly $1 million since operations began. The logic behind the Flex Team is straightforward: disrupting organized theft crews means fewer repeat offenders and, over time, fewer calls for service flowing back to patrol. Based on these results, BPD is allocating 3 dedicated officer positions to the Flex Team in 2026, allowing the team to run more operations, respond faster to emerging patterns, and build stronger cases alongside our retail and business partners.
2025 Berkeley Police Department Annual Report
18 How We’re Doing
Group A crimes (the more serious group of crimes defined by NIBRS) per capita and clearance rates are two of the most important measures of our department's effectiveness.
With a population of approximately 121,749, Berkeley experienced about 152 Crimes Against Persons per 10,000 residents in 2025, roughly 560 Crimes Against Property per 10,000 residents, and 91 Crimes Against Society per 10,000 residents.
Clearance rates (defined here as the percentage of cases closed within a year of being reported) improved in most categories. Robbery clearance rose from 34% to 49%, reflecting the impact of ALPR-supported investigations. Theft clearance jumped from 17% to 20%, and felony assault clearance reached 63%, the highest in the five-year window. Homicide clearance remained at 100% for the fifth consecutive year.
Clearance Rates* 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 CA Avg.
Homicide 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 64%
Felony Sexual Assault 22% 32% 31% 33% 32% 27%
Robbery 36% 39% 30% 34% 49% 30%
Felony Assault 62% 53% 49% 52% 63% 50%
Burglary 12% 8% 9% 10% 12% 11%
Theft 11% 11% 10% 17% 20% 11%
Stolen Vehicle 9% 12% 11% 12% 11% 6%
Arson 30% 30% 29% 33% 41% 30%
*Here we show 1-year clearance rates for BPD cases. A 1-year clearance rate is the percentage of cases that were closed within a year of being reported. The CA Avg is the number of cases cleared divided by the number of reported cases in 2024.
2025 Berkeley Police Department Annual Report
19 What’s Next
Drone as First Responder
In 2026, BPD will ask Council to authorize a Drone as First Responder (DFR) program. When a call comes in, a drone would launch from the roof of the Public Safety Building and arrive on scene ahead of officers, streaming live video of the incident (not the flight path) back to dispatch. Before a single patrol car pulls up, officers would already have eyes on the situation and a better understanding of what they're responding to.
The operational advantages are significant. A drone can reach most locations in the city in a fraction of the time it takes a patrol car, especially during peak traffic. For some call types, the aerial view may be enough to resolve the situation without dispatching an officer at all, thereby freeing that unit for calls that require a physical presence. For calls that do need an officer, the live feed means they arrive with real-time information about the scene: how many people are involved, whether there's an immediate threat, and where exactly the activity is happening.
That kind of situational awareness leads to better decisions and safer outcomes for officers and the community.
The DFR program also fits into BPD's broader investment in technology that multiplies the impact of existing staff. Like the ALPR network, it's a tool that makes each officer more effective rather than asking more of an already lean roster.
The program's success can be measured by four metrics: response time from dispatch to eyes on scene, the number of calls cleared without sending an officer, case clearance rates for DFR- supported incidents, and the speed at which those cases move from report to resolution.
2025 Berkeley Police Department Annual Report
20 Road Safety & Collisions
Berkeley recorded 784 total collisions in
2025, including 5 fatal incidents, 499 injury
collisions, and 280 non-injury collisions — an
overall decrease of 11% from 2024, though
fatal collisions rose from 4 to 5. The most
hazardous intersection was University Ave &
West Frontage, with 15 collisions and 13
resulting in injuries.
Throughout 2025, the department
co
nducted targeted High Intensity Traffic
Enforcement operations at high-co
llision
locations, guided by both historical data and
community input from the public-facing
Traffic Concern Survey. Our three-pronged
approach to traffic safety continued to show
strong alignment between the moving
violations recorded during vehicle stops and
the primary collision factors identified in our
data. The department also deepened its
collaboration with Vision Zero stakeholders,
expanded Drive Safer, Drive Longer classes
for aging drivers, increased DUI checkpoints,
and continued using collision data from the
Transparency Hub to guide enforcement
priorities.
Collision Data
Collision Totals:
Collisions 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
Fatal collisions 7 2 0 4 5
Injury collisions 431 548 514 559 499
Non-injury collisions 351 346 359 314 280
Total 789 896 873 877 784
2025 Berkeley Police Department Annual Report
21 Top collision locations:
High Collision Intersections, 2025
Total
Collisions
Injury
Collisions
Suspected
Serious Injury*
University Ave / West Frontage 15 13 1
Haste Street / Shattuck Ave 13 13 1
Ashby Ave / Sacramento St 10 7 0
Ashby Ave / Shattuck Ave 8 2 0
Ashby Ave / Telegraph Ave 8 7 1
Ashby Ave / College Ave 7 3 0
Curtis St / University Ave 7 5 1
California St / University Ave 6 5 0
Channing Way / College Ave 6 4 0
Oxford St / University Ave 6 4 0
*Suspected serious injury is any injury other than a fatality that results in significant injury as defined in the CHP Collision Investigation Manual (CHP, 2017, p. 5-5).
2025 Berkeley Police Department Annual Report
22 Department Initiatives
What We’ve Done
Traffic Safety Partnerships
In 2025, BPD deepened its collaboration with Vision Zero stakeholders to identify high-risk locations, study the root causes of collisions, and design targeted interventions. Our High Intensity Traffic Team (HITT) operations brought together 11 local law enforcement agencies, including the Alameda County Sheriff's Office, CHP, and departments from across the East Bay.
A single HITT operation in February put 17 officers on Berkeley streets and produced 185 citations in five hours, targeting speed, cell phone use, seatbelt violations, and locations identified through collision data and community complaints.
We continued using Office of Traffic Safety grant funding to support both enforcement and education. The Drive Safer, Drive Longer program hosted four classes at the North and South Berkeley Senior Centers, helping aging drivers maintain their mobility and independence while staying safe on the road. We expanded DUI checkpoints and used collision data from the Transparency Hub's Traffic Safety page to guide where and when we deploy enforcement resources.
Our three-pronged approach to traffic safety continued to show strong alignment between the moving violations recorded during vehicle stops and the primary collision factors identified in our data (more on that below). That connection between what we enforce and what actually causes collisions is what keeps the strategy grounded in real-world impact.
2025 Berkeley Police Department Annual Report
23 How We’re Doing
Moving Violations
The chart below compares moving violations recorded during vehicle stops against the primary collision factors (PCFs) identified in our collision data. As in prior years, there is substantial overlap between the violations officers enforce and the behaviors that actually cause collisions, which indicates that our enforcement strategy remains well-aligned with real-world safety risks.
What’s Next
Expanding Speed Enforcement
Speed remains one of the most consistent factors in serious and fatal collisions. In 2026, BPD is making a targeted investment in our ability to enforce it. We are acquiring 5 new LIDAR units and expanding LIDAR training beyond the Traffic Unit into patrol, so that speed enforcement capability is spread across the department rather than concentrated in a single team.
This matters because the Traffic Unit can only cover so many locations at once. By training patrol officers on LIDAR, we can run speed enforcement at high-collision intersections during regular patrol shifts, not just during dedicated traffic operations. More coverage at more locations means a stronger deterrent and more consistent enforcement at the places where speed-related collisions are most likely to happen.
These efforts build on our existing partnerships with Vision Zero stakeholders and our continued use of Office of Traffic Safety grant funding, and will be guided by the same collision data that has driven our enforcement strategy to date.
2025 Berkeley Police Department Annual Report
24 Accountability
Accountability is foundational to the trust between BPD and the community we serve. We analyze stop data and use-of-force incidents in detail each year, applying statistical tests to detect potential bias and ensure our practices are fair and impartial. In 2025, our data continued to support the conclusion that enforcement actions are driven by behavior and circumstances rather than race. Our search yield rates improved, our force rates remained low relative to call volume, and our bias testing methods continue to show alignment with race- neutral policing.
Stop Data Report
In 2025, BPD conducted 4,587 stops: 3,144 vehicle stops, 1,369 pedestrian stops, and 74 bicycle stops. Discretionary stops accounted for approximately 61% of encounters, largely addressing traffic violations; the remaining 39%
resulted from calls for service or
specific information.
Of these stops, 967 led to at least one
arrest, 1,449 resulted in citations, and
1,776 concluded with warnings.
Officers conducted searches in 11% of stops, with contraband found in 61% of those searches, up from 51% in 2024. Searches resulted in the seizure of 62 weapons, including 21 firearms.
Discretionary searches, or those not driven by an arrest, search warrant, vehicle inventory, or emergency, had a yield rate of 58%.
Tests for Bias
We apply three statistical tests each year to evaluate whether implicit bias influences officer decision-making. These tests are designed to isolate the impact of officer discretion from other factors that might drive disparities between stop demographics and census demographics. Our methods and results for 2025 are summarized below.
According to data published in the most recent
RIPA board report, Berkeley’s yield rate was higher
than 93% of all agencies in California.
2025 Berkeley Police Department Annual Report
25 At-Fault Collision Demographics
We compare the demographics of at-fault collision drivers with those stopped for moving violations. This is a meaningful benchmark because moving violations made up 73% of discretionary stops in 2025. If enforcement is race-neutral, the two groups should closely align.
Our 2025 analysis showed strong alignment, consistent with prior years, suggesting that traffic stops result from driving behavior rather than implicit bias.
Yield Rate Analysis
The yield rate measures how often searches produce contraband. If officers were applying a lower threshold of suspicion for any racial group, we would expect lower yield rates for that group, meaning officers searched with less race-neutral indicators of contraband present. Our 2025 data again showed lower yield rates for White individuals than for other groups, suggesting that search decisions are not influenced by racial bias.
2025 Berkeley Police Department Annual Report
26 Veil of Darkness
This test compares the racial composition of stops made in daylight versus after dark. If visible ra
ce influences the decision to stop, we would expect a higher proportion of stops of a given racial group during daylight, when race is visible. The 2025 data showed close alignment across demographic groups between daylight and darkness stops, consistent with race-neutral decision-making.
A note on census comparisons: It is common to compare the racial composition of police stops against residential census demographics. However, as the annual RIPA Board report notes, differences between stop demographics and residential demographics can result from many factors beyond officer bias, inc
luding differences in exposure to criminogenic factors, resource allocation, and non-resident populations that concentrate in particular areas. For this reason, we focus our bias analysis on officer-initiated discretionary stops, where the research shows implicit bias is most likely to surface. This approach allows us to hold ourselves accountable for the factor we can control, namely officer decision-making, rather than conflating it with external variables.
Use of Force Report
The Berkeley Police Department takes pride in
accomplishing our work with minimal reliance
on force, emphasizing de-escalation
techniques, mental health crisis response, and
proportional action, all reinforced through
regular training. Under our policy, reportable
force is divided into four levels:
Level 1 – Involves grabs, control holds, the use
of leverage, or body weight with no injury or
complaint of pain.
2025 Berkeley Police Department Annual Report
27 Level 2 – Applies when an officer points or deploys a firearm while interacting with someone. It also applies to a Level 1 force that involves more than momentary discomfort but does not have an injury or complaint of pain.
Level 3 – Involves the use of a weapon, subject injury, or complaint of pain. This category also applies to specific circumstances when an officer does not activate their body-worn camera.
Level 4 – Applies when an officer uses a firearm or when there is an in-custody death.
Officers report all uses of force to their sergeant, who documents the incident in a formal report reviewed by a lieutenant and captain.
In 2025, there were 275 incidents involving 1,273 uses of force. Level 1 and Level 2 actions accounted for 93% of all uses (70% and 23%, respectively). Of the 60,374 calls for service received in 2025, 0.46% resulted in the use of force, and 0.07% (45 incidents) involved level 3 or level 4 force.
2025 Berkeley Police Department Annual Report
28 We test for bias in force decisions by comparing the percentage of arrests in which force is used across racial groups. Using arrests as the baseline isolates the scenario in which force most commonly occurs.
The consistent percentages across racial groups suggests that force decisions are driven by the circumstances of the arrest rather than by race.
Use of Force Complaints
Every use of force is reviewed through the supervisory chain. When a use-of-force incident is also the subject of a personnel complaint, the Internal Affairs Bureau conducts an additional investigation. Results, including body-worn camera footage, are submitted with recommendations to the Chief.
In 2025, the department received a total of 26 allegations across 11 complaints regarding use- of-force incidents. To date, investigations of 10 allegations have been completed, while 16 remain under evaluation. 2 allegations within the 10 completed allegation investigations resulted in sustained findings of misconduct.
2025 Berkeley Police Department Annual Report
29 2025 INTERNAL AFFAIRS BUREAU STATISTICS
Complaints
Complaints
Received
Sustained
Not
Sustained
Exonerated Unfounded
Admin
Closed
Active
Complaints
External PAB 33
*External IAB 42
*Total External 42 1 1 2 5 17 16
**Total Internal 16 14 0 0 0 1 1
Total Complaints 58 15 1 2 5 18 17
Allegations
Received Sustained
Not
Sustained
Exonerated Unfounded
Admin
Closed
Active
Improper Use
of Force
26 2 0 0 3 5 16
Discourtesy 33 1 0 0 9 6 17
Improper Stop/
Search/Seizure/Arrest
38 0 0 2 1 17 18
Inadequate
Investigation
50 5 1 0 9 14 21
Improper Detention
(Jail)
0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Discrimination 31 0 0 0 6 9 16
Harassment 13 0 0 1 4 4 4
Improper
Procedure
54 12 3 8 3 12 16
Improper
Citation / Tow
7 0 0 1 0 2 4
Other 6 0 0 0 0 1 5
Dishonesty 3 0 3 0 0 0 0
Total
Allegations
261 20 7 12 35 70 117
2025 Berkeley Police Department Annual Report
30 Looking Ahead
The results in this report make a clear case: when our officers have better tools and better information, outcomes improve. Shootings dropped 40%. Robberies fell 20%. Vehicle thefts declined 48%. Our ALPR program and Flex Team operations combined for nearly 200 arrests.
These gains came without adding sworn officers- they came from putting the right technology and strategy behind the people we already have.
Our staffing reality has not changed. We continue to operate well below authorized strength, and
that is unlikely to reverse quickly. What has changed is our ability to multiply the impact of each officer on the street. Technology that provides real-time inf ormation like the license plate
readers we already have or the future addition of surveillance cameras and drones makes each officer more effective: faster to respond, better informed on arrival, and more precise in enforcement so that we reduce unnecessary stops and focus on confirmed criminal activity.
This approach also matters for recruitment and retention. The next generation of officers expects to work with modern tools. Departments that invest in technology are better positioned to attract and keep qualified candidates. Falling behind puts us at a competitive disadvantage in an already difficult hiring environment.
In 2026, we will bring forward proposals to expand our public safety technology capabilities, including renewal of our ALPR program, deployment of fixed surveillance cameras in high- pedestrian areas, and a Drone as First Responder program. The larger vision is to bring these tools together in a Real-Time Intelligence Center: a centralized hub where camera feeds, license plate data, and aerial footage are monitored and relayed to officers in the field as incidents unfold. The best available research supports this model. A peer-reviewed study of the Miami Police Department's Real-Time Crime Center, published in Justice Quarterly, found that cases supported by the center had 66% better odds of being cleared than comparable cases without that support. That is the kind of difference that translates directly into more crimes solved, more victims served, and a safer community.
These investments extend beyond sworn operations. The Communications Center initiatives now underway, from protocol-based dispatching to virtual call triage, along with the continued expansion of CSOs into patrol and investigations, are equally central to our ability to deliver faster, more effective service with the resources we have.
We remain equally committed to the partnerships and community-centered work that underpin everything we do, from the Gun Violence Intervention and Prevention Program to Vision Zero to our business district engagement. Technology supports this work; it does not replace it. We look forward to presenting these proposals and to continued partnership with City Council and our community as we work toward a safer, more responsive Berkeley.
2025 Berkeley Police Department Annual Report
31