Public Comment

Berkeley Police get it right

Robert Cheasty
Friday February 24, 2017 - 02:37:00 PM

Kudos to the Berkeley police for disarming the "Homeless man arrested for slashing tents in Berkeley” and for using non-lethal force to do it. This story could have easily been “Homeless Man Brandishing a Sword and Slashing at Tent Dwellers Shot and Killed by Police.” 

In order to encourage and support the right kind of response we need to acknowledge when the police conduct is admirable. In this instance a poorly trained officer could have easily reacted with fear and shot the man slashing with his sword. Thankfully the officers responding were properly trained and showed great restraint and respect for human life all the way around. 

At a time of too many stories with tragic endings and suspects killed at the scene, we owe a great debt of thanks to the supervisors at the Berkeley Police Department for seeing that the line officers are getting the training necessary to deal with very dangerous situations while using the least amount of force required. 

Congratulations to the City of Berkeley and to its Police Department. 


Robert Cheasty is a former mayor of Albany.