ODPA Policy Analyst Jose Murillo, Juliet Leftwich, Leah Wilson, Joshua Cayetano, Randy Wells, Kitty Calavita, ODPA Director Hansel Aguilar.

The Berkeley Police Accountability Board (PAB) had a regular meeting on Wednesday, November 5, where they discussed issues including Berkeley Police Department’s (BPD) immigration policy, the BPD’s Annual Surveillance Technology Report, and the encryption of BPD radio channels.

The meeting began with a call to order, roll call, and approval of the agenda. Next, the PAB board members gave reports where PAB Chair Josh Cayetano shared that he had been meeting with Berkeley City Council members and internal city stakeholders to finalize negotiations for permanent PAB regulations. Additionally, Board Member Juliet Leftwich brought up Assembly Bill 847, which will take effect in January of 2026 and allow civilian oversight agencies to access police records during investigations.

Next, the board discussed BPD’s Policy 415 “Immigration Law.” Chair Cayetano suggested that the board hold a special meeting to hear testimony from law enforcement in cities like Los Angeles, Chicago, and Portland. This would help the board understand what revisions should be made to BPD’s immigration policy so that it best suits Berkeley’s values as a sanctuary city.

Then, the PAB discussed BPD’s Annual Surveillance Technology Report, which was presented to the city council on November 10. Board members shared concerns about the report, stating that it failed to mention complaints received by the Office of the Director of Police Accountability (ODPA) and PAB involving the use of surveillance technology. The report also described the results of a Flock automated license plate readers (ALPR) audit, which found that an external agency had searched ALPR data for the purpose of federal law enforcement, a practice that violates BPD policy. However, the report failed to mention which agency accessed the data and when this breach was identified by the BPD. The board then moved to send a letter voicing these concerns to city council.

The next item discussed was BDP’s decision to fully encrypt radio channels, which was approved by the city council on October 28th and implemented on November 6th. PAB Vice-Chair Leah Wilson expressed worry that the PAB had not been notified prior to the switch, preventing the PAB from making recommendations to city council on this issue. Board members also shared concerns about how encrypting radio channels could affect transparency and prevent news outlets from accessing timely information. Deputy Chief Jen Tate responded to questions about the switch, stating that there were instances where people committed crime sprees while listening to radio channels for information about police whereabouts. The board motioned to draft a letter to council sharing the transparency concerns about fully encrypted channels and concerns about the lack of notice received by the PAB prior to the switch.

The PAB then motioned to ask the ODPA to identify potential alternative vendors for surveillance systems due to concerns about the company Flock Safety sharing data with federal immigration enforcement. The Director of Police Accountability, Berkeley Police Accountability Board, then shared updates about the ODPA presentation he had given to the city council on September 30. Finally, the board motioned to assign a review of the 2026-2027 BPD budget to the Operations and Metrics subcommittee.

–Lucy Still