UPDATE: THE RESOLUTION PASSED!

SAFEBEARS CALLS ON BERKELEY CITY COUNCIL TO APPROVE ADDITIONAL FIXED SECURITY CAMERAS — ESPECIALLY IN STUDENT LOCATIONS LIKE DURANT/TELEGRAPH

WHAT: “Revised External Fixed Surveillance Camera Locations and Vendor Transition”

WHEN: City Council will vote on APPROVED this resolution in its entirety Tuesday, March 18, 2025, 6:00 PM. An effort to remove the Southside camera FAILED.

HOW YOU CAN HELP STEPPED UP TO HELP:

• EMAIL council in support of this resolution by Monday, March 17th at noon ✅ 60 emails sent!

• SPEAK in support at the City Council meeting by Zoom or phone or in person ✅ 2 SafeBears speakers, which was crucial, as public comments were 2-1 AGAINST the resolution

• READ the agenda for the March 18th meeting (and get the Zoom link to participate) 🔥 🔥 Well done, SafeBears!

SafeBears supports this resolution because cameras work – both to catch perpetrators of crime and to deter wrongdoers from acting in the first place. Cameras also aid in prosecutions, ensuring fair and appropriate consequences for criminal conduct. 

The City of Berkeley Police Department credited license plate reader technology with helping to identify the man who repeatedly fired a gun near UC Berkeley in October 2024. During that incident, the sixth instance of confirmed gunfire on or near UC Berkeley property last year, the alleged perpetrator’s actions placed Cal students in grave danger:

• The gunman confronted four UC Berkeley students on Telegraph Avenue, “pulled a gun from his waistband, pointed it at the students, told them to run and fired a round into the air,” according to BPD, as reported by local news outlet The Berkeley Scanner.

• The gunman fired a shot that penetrated an occupied bedroom of a Southside UC Berkeley residence hall that houses first-year Regents Scholars and recruited athletes.

The above is just one of many examples of ALPR “hits” leading to arrests. Fixed cameras too are valuable law enforcement tools: when a Cal student was robbed and punched in the face several months ago, the entire incident was captured by UC Berkeley cameras, to cite one recent example. 

Responsible use of technology to deter, apprehend and prosecute is especially important considering the overall law enforcement environment in Berkeley, in particular the staffing shortages at BPD and UCPD. As of February 2024, BPD was staffed with just 151 sworn officers out of 181 authorized, compared with 174 sworn in 2020. UCPD has 49 sworn officers out of 55 authorized, compared with 70 sworn in 2014 and 80 sworn in 2007. 

According to the National Institute of Justice, “police deter crime by increasing the perception that wrongdoers will be caught and punished … with the certainty of being caught a vastly more powerful deterrent than the punishment.” Bad actors throughout the Bay Area almost certainly know they won’t encounter many police patrols in Berkeley, nor are they likely to be stopped by police for traffic infractions. ALPRs and fixed cameras, therefore, are crucial tools to challenge the perception that Berkeley is a soft target for robbery, retail theft and the like.

Click to read our full letter to Berkeley City Council