The city of Berkeley’s director of police accountability filed a legal complaint against Berkeley’s chief of police for allegedly withholding records from a potential police misconduct investigation, a move the complaint said could threaten the independence of the Police Accountability Board.

The complaint, filed Dec. 8 in the Alameda County Superior Court, alleged that Chief of Police Jennifer Louis prevented Hansel Aguilar from carrying out his duties as director of police accountability while investigating a complaint he received regarding a June 4 sweep of the 8th and Harrison encampment. 

“(Louis) has subverted the will of the voters of the City of Berkeley for independent and thorough investigations into complaints of police misconduct,” the complaint alleged.

At the June 4 sweep,  about 40 people were asked to leave the encampment within 20 minutes, residents said. At the time, Berkeley Homeless Union cofounder Yesica Prado alleged that Berkeley Police Department officers detained a resident and used nonlethal weapons. Prado also alleged that officers threatened individuals with arrest should they return to the encampment.

The complaint does not detail the specific instances of potential misconduct being investigated. However, it cites a written complaint Aguilar received that alleged violations of BPD policy regarding the public recording of law enforcement activity and claimed officers “violated the constitutional rights of a member of the public.”

On July 14, Aguilar requested records from Louis but only received a portion of what he had asked for, the complaint said. 

The initial request asked for the release of all police and investigative records, body camera footage and police and investigative reports regarding the actions of specific officers at the June 4 sweep.

Aguilar then issued an administrative subpoena Aug. 13, reiterating his previous request and seeking further records, including written communication, radio communication and operational plans pertaining to the sweep.

Louis said in a Sept. 12 response to the subpoena that BPD had provided computer-aided dispatch reports and body camera footage from multiple officers. She added that many records he requested did not exist. After sharing the Operations Plan for the encampment closure as “a gesture of good faith,” she said further records that could be relevant to his subpoena would not be released.

In her response, Louis alleged that documents requested in the subpoena were outside of the scope of Aguilar’s authority as director of police accountability, claiming that he was asking for materials broader than those needed to investigate the potential instances of misconduct.

Louis also said the requested material could compromise “investigative integrity” in an active criminal case. She added that disclosure of further information could compromise victim, community member and officer safety and privacy.

The complaint alleged that Louis’ cited reasons were “factually and legally without merit” given that the city’s charter does not give discretion to the police chief to determine what requests are within the director’s scope of authority and that any records received would be kept confidential, also per the charter.

Should the police chief have the ability to limit the director’s authority, the complaint said, the director’s independence from other city offices “would be completely eviscerated.”

The complaint asked that the court order Louis to comply with the Office of the Director of Police Accountability’s requests to share the records. It also asked for a judicial declaration that Louis had failed to comply with her duties outlined in the city charter, and that she is obligated to assist the Director by providing records when asked.

The city of Berkeley and the Office of the Director of Police Accountability both declined to comment given the ongoing nature of the case.