UC Berkeley

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February 17, 2012 | 12:42 PM | By

Point-counterpoint: Should UC Police run bathroom sex stings?

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A UC-Berkeley lecturer is suing the school over getting wrapped up in a gay sex sting in a library bathroom. Police evidently stake out certain campus bathrooms known for sexual activity. The lecturer, who admittedly was there to “meet someone,” was subsequently arrested for “loitering around a toilet.” Bruce Nickerson, the attorney representing the lecturer in a class action, says UCPD’s practice of running bathroom stings is an assault on gay rights:

What happened at U.C. Berkley was as follows. The restroom in one of the major libraries gained a reputation, probably deserved, for being a place where gay persons met. The overwhelming majority of them, I believe, meet and then go elsewhere – some small, insignificant minority possibly engaging in conduct in closed bathroom stalls, which, while odious, is not illegal according to the California Supreme Court, several cases of which I argued.

And if not illegal, Nickerson says, what is UCPD doing devoting officers to library bathrooms, where they pose as men seeking sexual partners?

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FILED UNDER: Police, UC Berkeley
September 23, 2011 | 2:14 AM | By

Students clash with UC Berkeley Police at Tollman Hall, 2 arrested

UC Berkeley Police clashed with student protesters fighting against cuts to California’s public university system tonight at an ugly scene outside Tollman Hall. One demonstrator was arrested around 7:45 PM, allegedly for an incident during a march earlier in the day where a police officer had a clip of ammunition taken from his utility belt and emptied on the sidewalk.

Within an hour, UCPD officers attempted to bar the entrance to Tollman Hall, where dozens of demonstrators were still gathered, without issuing a dispersal order. Scuffles broke out inside and outside the building as one person was arrested and stones and chairs were hurled at UCPD officers.

The crowd dispersed around 9 PM after at least two dozens UCPD and Oakland Police officers responded to a mutual aid request. More video of the clashes after the jump.

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FILED UNDER: Police, student protests, UC Berkeley
March 25, 2011 | 5:39 PM | By

Berkeley Police denies using pepper spray on student protesters

Berkeley Police denied using pepper spray on student protesters at this week’s meeting of Berkeley’s police watchdog body, the Police Review Commission.

During the Wednesday evening meeting, commissioners received a complaint by Copwatch activist Andrea Pritchett about the alleged use of pepper spray on a group of nonviolent demonstrators on the steps of Wheeler Hall at UC-Berkeley on March 3rd. Berkeley Police officers equipped with riot gear were on the scene as part of BPD’s response to a call for mutual aid from the University of California Police.

PRC chair Russell Bloom said the committee could not review Pritchett’s complaint nor go over a report on the March 3rd incident due to the termination earlier this week of the commission’s long-time director, Victoria Urbi. Despite Bloom’s requests not to discuss the matter for fear of tainting any future investigation, BPD Lieutenant Randy Files told the room BPD officers “we didn’t use pepper spray” on March 3rd.

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FILED UNDER: Police, Berkeley, Berkeley Police Department, pepper spray, protest, UC Berkeley