How Does the Berkeley Police Department Patrol the City?

Answers by Sgt. Mary C. Kusmiss S-6 BPD Public Information Officer.

Q: The Berkeley Police Department increased patrols of South Berkeley . Will the department continue to patrol the area? 

A: Whenever there is a location, area or beat that is being challenged with violence, Berkeley Police Department (BPD) patrol officers dedicate extra attention/surveillance to the location, area or beat.

With respect to BPD, there is policing work that is visible to the community — such as BPD officers driving, walking or riding bikes or motorcycles, making car stops or pedestrian stops — but there is also a great deal of effort that happens “behind the scenes." Detectives investigate incidents such as the shootings you mention. Their work involves calling other agencies to share and review data as to who may have been released from jail or prison recently, listening to what the “street” is telling them, and developing probable cause for search warrants, among other tasks. Detectives share relevant information with patrol officers, drug task force officers, bike officers and those who work the streets, alerting them to be on the lookout for particular activity, cars or individuals.

Q. How do BPD patrols work in terms of which areas are chosen, schedules and duration?

A. BPD currently works a “beat’ system (see the map on the right.) There are 79 patrol officers evenly distributed on seven patrol teams, with two sergeants/supervisors per team that cover all days and hours of each week. There is also an operations captain and four lieutenants — also known as watch commanders that work throughout the week.

Each patrol team and its officers work four 10-hour days. The shift schedule is called a 4/10.

At BPD, patrol officers bid for the particular teams he/she prefers based on departmental seniority. Sometimes he/she gets it, sometimes he/she doesn’t. Once on a team, officers bid based on seniority on that team for the beat or geographical area he/she is primarily responsible for.

There are currently 18 beats in the city. After 2 a.m., one patrol officer takes care of two beats. This happens from 2 a.m. until 6:30 a.m., when calls for police services are most often lower. Otherwise, there is one beat officer for each of the 18 beats.

In addition, the work of a patrol officer is augmented by bike officers, Traffic Bureau motor officers, area coordinators, crime scene investigators, parking enforcement officers and drug task force officers.

When and what areas these teams work is too fluid and challenging to lay out here. The point to take away is that there are more BPD personnel than patrol officers who are working in the community. If a very significant event happens, such as a shooting, homicide, fatal collision or a missing child, often detectives and others in specialty assignments will further augment staffing to support whatever investigation is ongoing, manage the safety, maintain order and keep the peace of the streets of Berkeley.

Q. Is there a fixed routine for patrols or is it case-by-case? 

A. Policing is primarily a reactive business. BPD averages 375 calls for police services a day. Community members, businesses, visitors and others call to report or request service of all types. These calls are prioritized based on a system by the public safety communications dispatchers.

A patrol officer’s first priority is to manage calls assigned to him/her on the beats or a neighboring beat if the neighboring beat officer is busy with an arrest or extended investigation.

Calls for police service run the gamut, but include:

• theft
• burglary
• robbery
• domestic violence
• mental health issues
• aiding other City of Berkeley staff during home checks, inspections or other matters
• aiding Child Protective Services
• family disputes
• alarms
• welfare checks
• stolen bikes, scooters, cars, laptops
• finding stolen cars parked in Berkeley

We could fill the page with the odd and interesting calls BPD receives and respond to — but that was not the question.

Besides managing calls of crimes that have already happened and the suspect or suspects are long gone, we respond to in progress calls, in which we are actively looking for a suspect or suspects, such as an armed robbery that just occurred.

Our mission is to reduce crime, thus when we are not managing “cold” calls or those that just happened, officers are taking care of their beats and taking care of each other by covering them on their calls or going to their aid when called upon. Patrol officers are making car stops, detaining suspicious individuals, and looking for suspects whose pictures and information have been shared to patrol from the BPD Investigations Division and neighboring agencies, parole, probation and the FBI. And yes, they're meeting for coffee to catch up — but are always listening to the radio and ready to respond.

Although, as mentioned, policing is a reactive business, BPD has made some great strides in shifting our focus — or we should say increasing our focus — on varying special projects. BPD has regular Crime Analysis and Response Strategies (CARS) meetings in which detectives, crime analysts, operations leadership, and others look at crime for the week, identify trends or series, have dialogue about what suspects may fit some of the patterns or MOs, and set out each week with very specific goals.

The teams also devise creative special projects, perhaps to focus on an area that is challenged with a particular series of crimes, focus on looking for individuals who are problematic recidivists, or focus on catching a suspect(s) in the act or in possession. Examples include probation searches, parole searches, arresting individuals on warrants and, of course, operations that we don’t share publically as we do not want to compromise our tactics and advertize what we do.

Often peace officers say “nothing should be routine in policing." Anything can happen (and it does…). Every car stop is a potentially deadly threat. We try to be mindful of the pulse of the street, including what people are talking about. We keep looking at data, forecasting, and being alert to changes in climate on a beat, or new individuals and cars that are coming in and out of Berkeley. Mindfulness is a form of hyper vigilance that every officer carries.

What do you think of the Berkeley Police Department's patrol processes? Share your thoughts in the comments.

Do you have a question for the Berkeley Police Department? Let us know. Leave a comment or email berkeley@patch.com. Read more answered questions from the police in our .

Thanks to Deborah Washington for this week's question.