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Berkeley’s Police Review Commission and Copwatch are among the groups demanding answers to why five-year Berkeley Police Officer Rashawn Cummings used deadly force on Anita Gay, a 51-year-old South Berkeley grandmother. 

The question will be discussed by the Police Review Commis-sion at its meeting Wednesday at 7 p.m. at the South Berkeley Senior Center, 2939 Ellis St. 

Copwatch says it will respond after Thursday evening’s public memorial for Gay. 

“It’s the first item on the commission agenda,” said Police Review Commission (PRC) officer Victoria Urbi, who said she encourages the public to attend the meeting and participate in the public comment portion of the meeting.  

The committee won’t be discussing details of the shooting, but will be making a decision on whether to conduct an investigation, said Urbi, who staffs the commission. 

The PRC, however, will not be able to conduct a public investigation that includes both witnesses and the officer in question.  

As a result of a California Supreme Court decision and a lawsuit brought by the Berkeley Police Association (the city of Berkeley is appealing the ruling), hearings must be closed to the public and complainants may not be present when the officer responds to a complaint. 

“The citizens of Berkeley are foreclosed from that avenue,” Mark Schlosberg, ACLU Police Practices Policy director and a Berkeley resident. “We want to be able to learn the full facts.”  

Moreover, previous PRC rulings on complaints—made earlier than the Supreme Court ruling—are no longer available to the public or to members of the PRC. So the public cannot know whether there have been complaints sustained by the PRC against the officer in question. 

Andrea Prichett of Copwatch said the first order of business was to “deal with the grief of the family.”  

Prichett said she recognizes that everyone suffers, including the officer. 

Still, she said there are questions she would want to see answered: “Why did the officer respond by himself?” she asked. The Berkeley Police Department General Order D-5 issued Oct. 30, 2006 says that, in the case of a domestic dispute, a dispatcher “should, whenever possible, dispatch two officers to the scene.” 

“Domestic violence is one of the most dangerous calls,” Prichett said, underscoring that she questions whether there is adequate supervision and training of Berkeley police.  

Prichett said she also wants to know why the officer didn’t use pepper spray rather than deadly force, which was an option. 

She also said she thought the officer should have been immediately screened for drugs and alcohol. 

Questions have been raised about whether the Berkeley police department ought to invest in Taser guns, devices that emit electro shocks. The BPD currently is not prohibited from purchasing them. 

Councilmember Betty Olds would like the city to investigate their use. 

“We have to have something else,” Olds told the Planet. “Think of how that policeman is going to feel for the rest of his life.” 

Olds said she understands some people have died from the use of Tasers, “But a lot fewer people have died with Tasers than with pistols,” she said. 

“We would caution against suggesting that a Taser may have been a viable option in Saturday night’s officer involved shooting. The incident unfolded very quickly,” said Sgt. Mary Kusmiss in a written statement. 

Urbi said the research on Tasers is mixed. “The PRC would have to do more research,” she said. 

Schlosberg said the ACLU doesn’t have a position against Tasers. “They should be very strictly regulated,” he said, noting that Tasers have been implicated with loss of life when there have been multiple shocks, prolonged shocks and pre-existing medical conditions. 

“They are not risk free,” he said.  

The City Council will not discuss the issue before the district attorney’s investigation has been completed, which will be in about six weeks, City Manager Phil Kamlarz told the Planet.