To request inclusion of your local peace and social justice action, please email BerkSpeak@gmail.com.
These alerts are for March 2026. Happy Spring!
Here’s how you can help stop Berkeley from:
Using Chemical Weapons!
Violating Sanctuary with “Flock Safety!”
Here is a calendar of government events related to Flock, surveillance, and police weapons, in March. All of them are opportunities for public comment.
- Monday March 9, 2:30pm, Agenda and Rules Committee to approve Council agenda for March 24, including item 21 to approve Flock contracts and other surveillance. City Hall. Hybrid.
- Monday March 9, 6:30-9:30pm, Peace and Justice Commission to vote on all the above issues. South Berkeley Senior Center. In-person only.
- Tuesday March 10, 6pm, City Council to vote on abolition of the Pepper Spray Use Report. School Board Headquarters, 1231 Addison St. Berkeley. Hybrid meeting.
- Tuesday March 24, 6pm, City Council to vote on expanding and extending several Flock contracts, and a bunch of other surveillance programs, School Board Headquarters, 1231 Addison St. Berkeley. Hybrid meeting.
- TBD: Public Safety Committee meeting to vote on police dogs and helicopters.
- TBD: City Council to vote on chemical weapons, dogs, and helicopters. (April or later)
March is decision time for Berkeley on a raft of measures that take the city backwards on police reform and immigrant rights…
> Back to police weapons and tools we thought we had put away for good:
- CS/tear gas, OC/pepper spray, and smoke
- Police helicopters
- Police dogs!
> Back to the days before civilian oversight; before Berkeley instituted:
- The rule that police have to report on their uses of pepper spray
- Another rule that the City Manager must agree before police use dogs or helicopters
> Back to a time before Berkeley invented the Sanctuary City principle:
- The rule that says we must not collaborate with ICE thugs, who murder civilians to enforce their mass deportation campaign.The city government is determined to expand its public surveillance contract with Flock Safety, which is known to share people’s video and image data with ICE.
- Working with Flock is second-hand collaboration, or “passively taking part,” as Mario Savio named it at the dawn of Berkeley’s progressive era in 1964: “There is a time when the operation of the machine becomes so odious, makes you so sick at heart, that you can’t take part! You can’t even passively take part!”
How you can influence the decision process.
I. Come to the Peace and Justice Commission meeting Monday, March 9.
This Monday March 9 the Berkeley Peace and Justice Commission will take up two draft Recommendations on policing and the Flock contracts. The intent of the two Recommendations is to urge the Council not to approve either the police weapons/tools or the Flock contract expansion.
The meeting runs from 6:30pm to 9:30 pm at the South Berkeley Senior Center, 2939 Ellis Street at Ashby. This is your early opportunity to comment publicly on these critical issues.
The two Peace and Justice Recommendations are titled:
- Police Use of Controlled Weapons and Tools
- Cancellation of Flock Safety contracts
The draft Recommendations are contained in the commission agenda, which is attached and can also be found at this link:
https://berkeleyca.gov/your-government/boards-commissions/peace-and-justice-commission#:~:text=March%209%2C-,2026,-%7C%206%3A30pm%0APeace Select March 9, 2026 and click on AGENDA.
Passage of either of the two Recommendations by the commission is not guaranteed. The decision-makers need to hear from constituents. The Council proposals and the draft commission recommendations are complex, and reviewing them will help you prepare your comments.
II. Come or Zoom in to city council meetings March 10 and March 24.
The city council is on a fast track to approve these proposals. The day after the Peace and Justice meeting, Tuesday March 10, council considers Item 17 to stop requiring the police to file a report to the PAB when pepper spray is used. See the agenda packet at https://berkeleyca.gov/your-government/city-council/city-council-agendas/city-council-2026-03-10.
Council will take up the Flock item at their Tuesday March 24 meeting. This item will significantly expand Berkeley’s mass surveillance contract with Flock Safety.
In April or beyond, Council will take up CS/tear gas, OC/pepper spray, smoke, police dogs and helicopters, which were banned or restricted in previous years.
You can find the Council proposals at:
1. Controlled weapons item:
a. Pepper Spray Reporting (Council, page 1117, and PAB): https://berkeleyca.gov/sites/default/files/city-council-meetings/2026-03-10%20Agenda%20Packet%20-%20Council%20-%20WEB.pdfberkeleyca.gov/sites/default/files/2026-02/2026-02-23%20PAB%20Letter%20to%20Council_%20Use%20of%20Pepper%20Spray%20Reporting%20%281%29.pdf
b. Chemical weapons (Public Safety Committee agenda, item 3, page 17; and PAB review):
c. Police use of dogs and helicopters (Public Safety Committee p.9, PAB p.82)
https://berkeleyca.gov/sites/default/files/legislative-body-meeting-agendas/2026-02-19 Agenda Packet – Public Safety.pdf
2. Flock item (this is the original item from last September that was postponed to this month):
https://berkeleyca.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2025-09-09%20Item%2024%20Contract%20Flock%20Safety%20for%20Condor.pdf
There may be a lot of speakers, so it’s likely that people may only get a minute or two to speak. A minute goes by real fast. It would be good to prepare your thoughts in order to make a quick point.
Background and Details for the Urgent Action Guide:
- Tuesday Jan. 13 at 10am, first hearing in the lawsuit by the Director of Police Accountability against the Berkeley Police Chief. See the Facebook event for Tuesday’s hearing here.
This initial hearing will be essentially a request by the plaintiff for a summary judgment, for the judge to order the Chief to comply with the Director. If that is not successful, a full hearing may be ordered in the case.
You can read more about the lawsuit at https://www.berkeleyside.org/2025/12/17/bpd-chief-sued-by-odpa-berkeley-pab.
For more information about the BPD’s history of non-cooperation with the police accountability structure, read our article from Fall 2025: Berkeleyside and Berkeley Speaks: On Police Accountability; Comparison and comment.)
For more information, or to get involved, contact us at BerkSpeak@gmail.com.
- Thursday Jan. 15 from 3-4pm, BPD Community Discussion on Public Safety Technology
“Join a conversation with Berkeley Police about how technology like license plate readers, security cameras, and more help support criminal investigations.”
See: https://berkeleyca.gov/community-recreation/events/community-conversation-public-safety-technology
The meeting will be held in person and will also be available remotely via Zoom (zoom link).