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A hearing on a four-year-old police union suit against the city is slated for Nov. 14 at 9 a.m. in Alameda County Superior Court Dept. 31. 

City Attorney Manuela Albuquerque reported out a unanimous decision to go forward with contesting the suit at Tuesday night’s City Council meeting, following a closed joint meeting of the council and the city’s Police Review Commission. 

The suit alleges that PRC hearings “violate the statutory and contractual rights of the officers” who are compelled to appear publicly at the inquiries. The Berkeley Police Officers Association says these hearings involve personnel matters, which should be confidential. 

The city will argue that, since the city manager and police chief are responsible for disciplining officers, the BPOA complaint is invalid. Only the disciplinary measures are confidential, Albuquerque says. 

Police Review Commission hearings on complaints against officers were suspended last month in response to a California Supreme Court decision, Copley Press vs. San Diego County, which, Albuquerque says is similar to the BPOA case. Albuquerque says in both cases mandatory confidentiality in personnel matters applies only to the discipline an officer receives, not to the review of the complaint against an officer which the PRC does. 

If the city’s challenge to the suit is successful on Nov. 14, hearings on complaints against police officers will resume after that date.  

Meanwhile PRC Chair Sharon Kidd underscores that the public should continue to submit its complaints and they will be investigated. 

However they will be heard by the PRC Board of Inquiry only after resolution of the BPOA case. 

“We’re willing to wait until Nov. 14 to see exactly what will come out of this,” Kidd said in an interview Wednesday.  

The PRC will also continue its regular meetings and is holding a public hearing on Oct. 25 jointly with the police oversight advocacy group, Copwatch. The Oct. 25 hearing will give the public a chance to express itself on the suspension of the PRC police complaint hearings. 

Meanwhile, a PRC workshop to look closely at the Cary Kent case—the Berkeley police sergeant who pleaded guilty to stealing drugs from the police evidence room—has been delayed, while the PRC addresses the suspension of its hearings, Kidd said.