{"id":193223,"date":"2026-02-25T15:48:11","date_gmt":"2026-02-25T15:48:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/193223\/"},"modified":"2026-02-25T15:48:11","modified_gmt":"2026-02-25T15:48:11","slug":"is-police-accountability-in-berkeley-under-threat-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/193223\/","title":{"rendered":"Is police accountability in Berkeley under threat?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Police Accountability Board staff and members in attendance during a Feb. 11, 2026 meeting include (L-R) Jose Murillo, Joshua Buswell-Charkow, Leah Wilson, Joshua Cayetano, and Randy Wells. Credit: Kelly Sullivan for Berkeleyside<\/p>\n

Update, Feb. 25: Mayor Adena Ishii and Councilmembers Cecilia Lunaparra and Mark Humbert will lead the process of recruiting a successor for Hansel Aguilar, the police accountability director the council voted earlier this month to fire<\/a>. The council formed the subcommittee in a closed session Monday.<\/p>\n

Unlike most city workers, whom the Human Resources Department recruits, the director of police accountability is recruited, hired and fired by the council.<\/p>\n

Original story, Feb. 13: Police oversight officials have struck a defiant tone after the sudden firing of Director of Police Accountability Hansel Aguilar<\/a>. The ousting came just 10 days after the sudden resignations of two veteran Police Accountability Board<\/a> members, who said they were fed up with what they saw as obstruction from the city and resistance to reform from police.<\/p>\n

Aguilar\u2019s dismissal came after months of escalating tension<\/a> between his office and the Police Accountability Board on the one side, and the City Council, Berkeley Police Department leadership<\/a> and other city administrative agencies on the other. Most recently, in December, Aguilar sued BPD Chief Jen Louis in an attempt to get records related to a complaint against the police. This week, a judge denied Aguilar\u2019s petition, saying Aguilar had not had the authority to file it in the first place.<\/p>\n

But for years, the Berkeley Police Association, which comprises the department\u2019s rank and file and many supervisors, has been accusing the PAB and Aguilar of violating their employment rights.<\/p>\n

The council has not provided any specific reason for why they fired Aguilar, but the conditions of his hire<\/a> allowed them to fire him \u201cwithout cause,\u201d provided they give him one month\u2019s notice and pay him up to a year\u2019s salary in severance.<\/p>\n

\"\"Chair Joshua Cayetano speaks at the Berkeley Police Accountability Board meeting on Feb. 11, 2026. Credit: Kelly Sullivan for Berkeleyside<\/p>\n

PAB Chair Joshua Cayetano<\/a> said he was \u201csurprised and disappointed\u201d at Aguilar\u2019s firing.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is difficult to comment on the exact nature of his departure, as neither myself nor the Police Accountability Board were consulted by the City Council prior to his dismissal,\u201d Cayetano wrote in a prepared statement Monday that he also read aloud at the PAB\u2019s meeting Wednesday. \u201cBerkeley as a city faces systemic issues preventing effective independent civilian oversight of law enforcement that will not go away simply because of Former Director Aguilar\u2019s dismissal.\u201d<\/p>\n

Leah Wilson<\/a>, the board\u2019s vice-chair, said she\u2019d been getting calls asking for recommendations about who should fill the board\u2019s vacancies. The board is down to just four members; it is supposed to have nine regular ones and an alternate.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the challenges that I have is, this is a really difficult assignment, because we are so systematically disrespected and disregarded,\u201d Wilson said Wednesday. \u201cI think that you\u2019ve heard a lot of that in the resignations. You saw it in the summary dismissal of the director without any formal input from this board.\u201d<\/p>\n

BPD often prevails over PAB objections<\/p>\n

While BPD\u2019s civilian oversight system has been gutted, the police agency has time and again prevailed in its own requests, Wilson said. BPD has set up a network of automated license plate readers<\/a> it hopes to supplement with fixed surveillance cameras<\/a>. The PAB urged the city not to buy the ALPRs in the first place<\/a>, arguing that there wasn\u2019t enough evidence that they were effective to offset privacy concerns, and more recently has urged the city to consider tighter data restrictions if BPD does get its new cameras.<\/p>\n

Over the PAB\u2019s objections<\/a>, BPD is looking to bring back tear gas<\/a>, which the city banned in 2020, and to loosen restrictions on pepper spray and air and canine support requests.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we\u2019re seeing right now is, one after another, successful proposals to increase the use of expensive military and surveillance equipment and to expand the reach of the department in a city that is very undeniably relatively safe, if you look at our actual crime statistics<\/a>,\u201d Wilson said Wednesday.<\/p>\n

\"\"Vice-Chair Leah Wilson speaks at the Berkeley Police Accountability Board meeting on Feb. 11, 2026. Credit: Kelly Sullivan for Berkeleyside<\/p>\n

At the same Wednesday meeting, the PAB heard a presentation on BPD\u2019s request for drones, which both police and firefighters are hoping will decrease response times and keep personnel safer<\/a>, but which have irked privacy advocates.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is what is happening while there\u2019s this distraction underway of firing staff, not filling our board,\u201d said Wilson.<\/p>\n

Wilson urged her colleagues to keep their focus, to \u201chold the City Council accountable\u201d and to not get \u201cdistracted by the piecemeal breakdown that is happening sort of under our eyes.\u201d<\/p>\n

She said she had \u201cdisagreed with our director many times, and he\u2019ll be the first to tell you that, but he was so committed to this work, and I\u2019m really sad to see the way that he has left the role. I don\u2019t think he deserved it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Aguilar\u2019s office budget doubled during his tenure
\n\"\"Berkeley\u2019s first permanent director of police accountability, Hansel Aguilar, was dismissed after a City Council vote Feb. 9, 2026. Courtesy: Hansel Aguilar<\/p>\n

During Aguilar\u2019s tenure his agency\u2019s budget more than doubled, from $808,594 in 2022 \u2014 from before Aguilar was hired \u2014 to a projected $1,698,417 for 2026, according to city budget documents.<\/p>\n

As with most city agencies, the majority (roughly 75%) of the office\u2019s expenditures goes to salaries and benefits. In 2024 Aguilar sought to expand the office further, asking for funds for a public affairs specialist and someone dedicated to staffing the PAB, which Aguilar himself did until his dismissal.<\/p>\n

Also in 2024, the most recent year for which Aguilar filed an annual report, the PAB and Aguilar\u2019s office fielded 53 personnel complaints and cleared 51 of them. The PAB received six policy complaints and began another two policy reviews on its own.<\/p>\n

Berkeley Police Association says PAB, ODPA violated workplace rights<\/p>\n

Union lawyers have sent numerous letters to city officials demanding a halt to PAB work \u2014 in 2021 and 2022 over how the PAB conducted investigations, later in 2022 over whether an officer under investigation had access to pertinent records, and then in 2023 over whether Aguilar should be allowed access to internal affairs files. In most of those cases, union lawyers demanded the city enter into a \u201cmeet-and-confer\u201d process before Aguilar or the PAB could resume their work.<\/p>\n

At least one complaint rose to the level of a state labor investigation. The Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) opened an investigation following an unfair practice charge the BPA filed in 2022. According to that board\u2019s records, the investigation is still active.<\/p>\n

\"\"Berkeley Police Department Chief Jen Louis (left) and Director of Police Accountability Hansel Aguilar right) shake hands in this undated photo. Credit: City of Berkeley<\/p>\n

The evolution of the former Police Review Commission to the PAB, following a 2020 ballot measure to amend the city charter<\/a>, \u201chas presented ongoing regulatory and procedural challenges, particularly as the City has worked to negotiate and finalize permanent regulations since 2021,\u201d BPD Sgt. Neil Egbert, president of the police officers\u2019 union, said in response to a Berkeleyside inquiry about the previous and current oversight bodies.<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, the union did not lobby for Aguilar\u2019s dismissal, Egbert said.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur role is to advocate for our members and to ensure that any oversight framework is implemented in compliance with labor law and with full respect for due process protections,\u201d Egbert said. \u201cWe remain open to working collaboratively with city leadership and the future ODPA Director to finalize permanent regulations and build a respectful, professional working relationship that strengthens transparency, fairness, and public trust while also protecting the rights and working conditions of Berkeley police officers.\u201d<\/p>\n

There were echos in the union\u2019s recent allegations of a 1977 lawsuit by the union against the PAB\u2019s predecessor, the Police Review Commission, established in 1973. The union tried to prevent then-BPD Chief Wesley Pomeroy from cooperating with the PRC and supplying it with internal investigations into alleged officer misconduct. Then, too, the BPA demanded a meet-and-confer process, saying the city had unilaterally altered their working conditions \u2014 an argument a trial court, and then an appellate court, threw out<\/a>. (That was at least the second lawsuit involving the PRC. Berkeleyan Robert Brown tried, unsuccessfully, to get the PRC disbanded in 1976, arguing that it conflicted with the City Charter.)<\/p>\n

Despite the officers\u2019 unsuccessful suit in 1977, invoking meet-and-confer appears to be a strategy that has stood the test of time beyond Berkeley\u2019s boundaries. In December, Los Angeles County Sheriff Civilian Oversight Commission Chair Hans Johnson<\/a> told the PAB that agencies were using the same argument to forestall implementation of a new state law<\/a> that explicitly grants civilian oversight bodies access to confidential personnel records of police officers.<\/p>\n

\u201cMeet-and-confer powers under state labor law have been routinely cited and, more recently, misused by deputies\u2019 groups to try to obstruct and even to stall or even to sabotage civilian oversight of law enforcement,\u201d Johnson told the PAB in December.<\/p>\n

Berkeley council members say causes for firing are \u2018confidential\u2019
\n\"\"Policy Analyst Jose Murillo is leading the Office of the Director of Police Accountability on an acting basis after the firing of former director Hansel Aguilar. Credit: Kelly Sullivan for Berkeleyside<\/p>\n

Jose Murillo, the office\u2019s policy analyst, is serving as acting director until the City Council decides whether to appoint an interim one and, eventually, hire a permanent successor.<\/p>\n

Melissa Male, a spokesperson for Mayor Adena Ishii, said that the council would meet \u201cas soon as feasible to consider appropriate next steps.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since the director is appointed by the council, \u201cthe council will need to provide direction to staff concerning all matters relating to the appointment,\u201d Male said. It is unclear whether the council might alter the requirements for applicants, or the pay and benefits for the position.<\/p>\n

No council member provided their reasons for firing Aguilar. Some claimed it was a confidential personnel matter; others simply did not respond to Berkeleyside inquiries. Many nevertheless said they and the city were \u201ccommitted\u201d to civilian oversight, despite what is now a gutted office and a board at less than half its former strength.<\/p>\n

Spokespeople for Ishii and Downtown Councilmember Igor Tregub said the council was \u201cactively\u201d seeking Police Accountability Board member applicants. South Berkeley Councilmember Ben Bartlett said that \u201cafter some false starts, we have a strong candidate up for approval soon.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tRelated stories<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"City\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\tCity Council fires head of Berkeley\u2019s civilian police oversight office<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\tFebruary 9, 2026Feb. 13, 2026, 3:57 p.m.\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Two\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\tTwo police oversight board members resign in protest, saying Berkeley ignores its work<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\tJanuary 30, 2026Jan. 30, 2026, 5:17 p.m.\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Civilian\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\tCivilian oversight of Berkeley police is hitting a wall<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\tNovember 5, 2025Nov. 5, 2025, 5:49 p.m.\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

“*” indicates required fields<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Police Accountability Board staff and members in attendance during a Feb. 11, 2026 meeting include (L-R) Jose Murillo,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":177592,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[7981,7872,2465,2466,143,145,144,7985,76880,8763],"class_list":{"0":"post-193223","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-oakland","8":"tag-berkeley-city-council","9":"tag-berkeley-police-department","10":"tag-home-highlight","11":"tag-home-lead","12":"tag-oakland","13":"tag-oakland-headlines","14":"tag-oakland-news","15":"tag-police-accountability-board","16":"tag-police-review-commission","17":"tag-policing"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/193223","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=193223"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/193223\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/177592"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=193223"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=193223"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=193223"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}