Our district’s experience is plagued by gun violence and property crime, yet our police officers are not equipped to handle most of the urgent work that falls to them. Police officers are not social workers or mental health specialists. We need to reorient our city’s response to violence in a proactive way that centers social services and crisis response. Public safety in Berkeley must be data-driven, respectful of privacy rights, and cognizant of implicit bias.
Safety does not end with preventing crime. The staffing capacity of our Fire Department has not kept pace with the City’s population growth. Berkeley’s neighborhoods must be resilient and prepared in the face of earthquakes, floods, and wildfires.
As your District 2 City Councilmember, I will work to reimagine the role of law enforcement in the City of Berkeley and prioritize firefighter retention, training, and the maintenance of robust wildfire prevention and hazard mitigation.
Read about my public safety legislation
Sign up for disaster preparedness training with your local Community Emergency Response Team (CERT)
Find your Berkeley Police Department Area Coordinator
D2 Community Services Bureau (CSB) Area Coordinators:
Officer George Schikore
(510) 981-5774 gschikore@cityofberkeley.info
Officer Matt Valle
(510) 981-5772 mvalle@cityofberkeley.info
Officer Kajahna Futch
(510) 981-5778 kfutch@cityofberkeley.info
Latest Work
- Memorandum: Berkeley Ceasefire Community AdvisoryApril 2023 TO: Dee Williams-Ridley, City Manager <CManager@cityofberkeley.info> RE: Memorandum on Berkeley Ceasefire D2 Ad Hoc Advisory Group The District 2 Council office convened a series of meetings with local stakeholders and subject matter experts to better understand the operations of violence prevention programs and the challenges local governments may face in implementation. However, pursuant […]
- CM Taplin Statement on Police Misconduct AllegationsNovember 14, 2022TTaplin@cityofberkeley.info Councilmember Taplin Statement on Police Misconduct Allegations I am deeply disturbed and troubled by the recent surfacing of texts exhibiting anti-homeless andanti-Black racial bias distributed by an officer of the Berkeley Police Department. There can bezero tolerance for racism, bigotry, and hate anywhere in our city, let alone among the firstresponders who […]
- Press Release: Taplin’s Adult Re-entry and Basic Income Pilot Proposal Passes Key Committee VoteNovember 14, 2022 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Today the Berkeley City Council’s Health, Life Enrichment, Equity & Community (HLEEC) Committee unanimously passed District 2 Councilmember Terry Taplin’s proposal for the City’s newly-formed Office of Racial Equity to incorporate workforce development services for the recently incarcerated (known as “adult re-entry”) and development of a Guaranteed Basic Income […]
- Councilmember Taplin Statement on May 5 Reimagining Public Safety MeetingMay 5, 2022 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Dear District 2, I was born and raised in West Berkeley, and have lived in the neighborhood currently bearing the brunt of increasing gun violence for most of my life. Berkeley is a diverse community, and while we may not always agree on particulars, we value a just society […]
- Councilmember Taplin Statement on May 3 HomicideMay 4, 2022 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE I am grieving the loss of another neighbor in the district. We must never let gun violence become an acceptable, routine part of our lives–it is a terrible tragedy and we must do everything in our power to stop the bloodshed for good. The City of Berkeley must take […]