The Berkeley city council did not appoint a new police chief Tuesday night and will not do so until an investigation into an arrest quota – made public through leaked texts – is complete. In addition, the union president who is at the heart of the controversy has stepped down.
reported that City Manager Dee Williams-Ridley pulled the item confirming Jen Louis' appointment, saying she will bring the police chief appointment back to the council once the investigation is complete. But for now, she wants to ""do everything that we can to ensure public trust, especially in this appointment.
Louis was a captain of a different division at the time, and told KTVU in an email she knew nothing of this arrest quota and if she had, would have investigated it. PR spokesman Sam Singer, who was hired to represent the Berkeley Police Association, told KTVU on Wednesday that Kacalek has taken leave of his position at the union as president – two days after revelations about his texts were made public. The texts that Kacalek allegedly sent also negatively refer to Obama, Black suspects and joke about wiping out the homeless population during COVID. He also makes refererence to arresting a certain number of people a day to reach 100.
"We are disturbed by the alleged texts by BPA president Darren Kacalek," the union said in a statement. "As police officers, public servants, and union members we condemn in the strongest terms any negative comments concerning the housing status or ethnicity of those we police and serve." "Discrimination has no place in modern police work," the union said.
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