Public Comment

I am proceeding with the filing of multiple complaints against officers of the Berkeley Police Department. I don’t think it will help. The Berkeley Police lack cultural sensitivity and by all evidence common courtesy and sense. They are, by and large, an incendiary gang in blue that should be curtailed in Southwest Berkeley. 

There have been two other serious incidents since my 20-year-old daughter was assaulted by the officer in car 1522 on Oct. 10. 

Last week an African American officer on a bike told my son “he was not the nigger to fuck with.” This is dismaying in all sorts of ways. Why does the brother riding with white officers identify himself so readily as a nigger? And what does it mean he is “not to be fucked with?” It sounded like a threat to my son. It sounds like a threat to me. The officer said my son could take it how he liked. We don’t like it at all. We have no intention of taking it. 

So what do we do? A 75-day process will not alleviate the stress we are under right this moment. 

The police officer decided my son was drunk today. He told him to take his drunk ass back in the house with his gun. This was after the officer engaged in a yelling match with an 18-year-old (my son) that was so heated a passerby felt it necessary to rescue my son who was not being detained, just harassed. 

How unprofessional is this? How provocative. How un-officer-like. If there had been anything remotely passing for “cause,” there would have been an arrest or a ticket ... something. The stops are bogus. It is clearly harassment. It is unacceptable. 

Is it the policy of this city to allow its officers to court lawsuits for harassment under the color of law? I ask because that’s where we are heading. This is intolerable. 

Some officers, it seems, should be checked for psychological disorders, Their vitriol and often demonstrated fixation on a handicapped 18-year-old is misplaced and indicative of some deep seated problems. Some are not fit for duty. Some are provocateurs with an agenda for my children. We are not in accord. 

Is it legal to search someone without probable cause, to do a four-way search on someone not on paper, to intimidate, harass and belittle citizens from the protection of a badge in Berkeley? 

Many officers are bullies and should pick on someone their own size. Perhaps they could use their aggression to actively investigate the attempted murder of my son, but that sounds too close to right. 

When this comes to a head, as it will, someone is going to want to know who knew and what they did to intervene. It should be enough that we are allowing ourselves to be drummed out of Berkeley. Is it necessary that we be tarred and feathered in our exit? The stress of this is taking a serious toll on our family. If no one else cares, we do. 

I worry about the image of law this presents to all youth not just my own. If there are no rules for the police, then why should they worry about being lawful? When police abuse their power, they encourage lawlessness. 

My family is starting to fail the tone test. You know, the strategy North America African moms give their youth in order to help them survive an encounter with the gang in blue: modulate your tone, be ultra respectful, cooperate to the fullest extent and you may leave the encounter unscathed. How can they take me seriously when time after time they are abused under the color of law? I can’t even take my own advice any more. I am full to overflowing with angst and righteous anger. 

I don’t know if I told you before but Berkeley is where my granny brought me when she moved from the south to California. I have always had great love for this city. Now I am clear on the duality that rests in Berkeley. Its enlightened reputation is created by the white (in the majority) students at the university. These students bring not just money into Berkeley’s coffers but provide it with an image that belies its true narrow, conservative, repressive self. The lived experience of those cosigned to “the hub” of Berkeley is measurably different than that of city residents of “real” Berkeley. That’s a damn shame in a country that has just elected a black president. 

I am starting to wonder about hard facts: What is the conviction-to-arrest ratio for the BPD? How many convictions are straight guilty pleas and how many are the bogus deals people take even when they are innocent? What are the homicide resolution statistics? How are officers evaluated for continuing fitness for duty? Is there any cultural sensitivity training in place in the police department? Who does it? How is its effectiveness measured? Are there others with complaints similar to mine, (class action)? How many complaints against specific officers? What are the community policing standards for this city? Is there any more direct way to deal with my concerns? Who do the chief of police and the city manager answer to? Who do you sue when your city puts your life on the crap table? 

Does the city have any more immediate solution for me other than a long bureaucratic process that may not stop something awful from happening tomorrow? 

Ayodele Nzinga is a Bay Area theater director.