JUN15
Call Berkeley City Council – Stop Urban Shield
-
clockThursday, June 15 at 12 AM – 11:59 PMNext Week
Details
The community wants resources for mental health crises, earthquake and fire preparedness. We say no to increased militarization of police, our emergency medic services and our communities.
After postponing the vote several times, Berkeley City Council will be holding a special hearing on June 20th focused specifically on Berkeley’s participation in Urban Shield, the Northern California Regional Information Center (NCRIC, a fusion center based in the Bay Area) and Berkeley’s purchase of an armored vehicle. These are all controversial and harmful policing and surveillance tools that are deployed in our communities and the we oppose. They do not support community preparedness for crisis events.
Check out this video on our facebook for more information about Urban Shield – https://www.facebook.com/
Contact the Berkeley City Council and tell them to vote no on Urban Shield, militarized policing and surveillance tools.
Dear Councilmember ______________,
I am writing to urge you and all Berkeley City Council members to take leadership in putting an end to Berkeley’s engagement in the militarization of police and disaster preparedness represented by the annual Urban Shield exercises and weapons expo, funded by DHS through the Urban Areas Security Initiative. Urban Shield’s emphasis on SWAT teams as the response to emergencies – including natural disasters – as well as extremely militarized scenarios, diminishes resources for responding to the ordinary emergencies community members face every day. Especially with the harms we’ve seen from the Trump administration, Berkeley should not be participating in war games funded by the Department of Homeland Security, which involve not only Bay Area counties, but teams from around the United States.That is why I ask you to exercise your leadership and end all of Berkeley’s participation in Urban Shield, reject any future funding from UASI, and stand with Berkeley communities and people across the country.
Mayor Jesse Arreguin / (510) 981-7100/ mayor@cityofberkeley.info
District 1 / Linda Maio / (510) 981-7110 / lmaio@cityofberkeley.info
District 2 / Cheryl Davila / (510) 981-7120 /
District 3 / Ben Bartlett / (510) 981-7130 /
District 4 / Kate Harrison / (510) 981-7140 /
District 5 / Sophie Hahn / 510) 981-7150 / shahn@CityofBerkeley.info
District 6 / Susan Wengraf / (510) 981-7160 /
District 7 / Kris Worthington / (510) 981- 7170 /
District 8 / Lori Droste / (510) 981-7180 /
