Hansel Aguilar, Director of PAB, speaking at the City Council Meeting September, 30, 2025.

At their September 30th meeting, the Berkeley City Council heard a presentation from Hansel Aguilar, the director of police accountability. Aguilar also serves as the secretary for the Berkeley Police Accountability Board (PAB). The items that Aguilar highlighted had previously been presented to the council last year through an Office of the Director of Police Accountability (ODPA) companion report on the Berkeley Police Department texting scandal from November of 2022. Aguilar brought these items to the council again because he believed they still deserved attention. The items had also been presented to the PAB, who took no action on them.

The first item was a resolution calling upon the state legislature to change Government Code 12519, allowing heads of civilian oversight agencies, like Aguilar, to request investigative assistance from the attorney general’s office. Aguilar stated that the ODPA had reached out to the attorney general’s office for assistance during an investigation in the past and was denied support. Multiple council members expressed concerns regarding this item, saying that there was already a procedure for the ODPA and PAB to receive investigative assistance from the city council. Councilmember Mark Humbert also said it was unclear what exactly the item was trying to achieve, wondering if it was being presented for information or for action. Additionally, Councilmember Terry Taplin expressed concern that there had not been contact with a state senator or any member of the state legislature about this issue prior to the city council meeting. Mayor Adena Ishii then motioned to take no action on the matter.

The next item presented was a resolution asking the city manager and city attorney’s office to create a clear communications policy to protect the impartiality of active personnel investigations. Aguilar expressed concerns over previous incidents where senior city officials made comments about the outcomes of ongoing investigations. Berkeley City Manager Paul Buddenhagen and Berkeley City Attorney Farimah Brown, who were in attendance at the meeting, stated that there were already procedures in place to ensure the impartiality and neutrality of investigations. Ishii moved to refer this item to the city attorney’s office, asking for a memo on current policies relating to due process and pending investigations.

Towards the end of the meeting, several council members voiced criticism of the items being presented. Councilmember Ben Bartlett stated that these items should be taken to commission to be worked on, and Councilmember Brent Blackaby said to move past these items and return to “the substantive work where the PAB can really add a ton of value.” Ishii said she was disappointed after she and her colleagues had given Aguilar the opportunity to work on these items in a subcommittee prior to the meeting, but Aguilar declined. Ishii said she is ultimately supportive of the ODPA and the PAB, but she wants them to communicate with the appropriate personnel before presenting items to council. Aguilar then stated that he believed it was inappropriate to receive public criticism after repeatedly asking for a performance review, to which Ishii responded that the city was working on hiring consultants for performance evaluations.

The next Police Accountability Board meeting will be November 5th.