Petrelis Files

3 Berkeley Cop Cars to Ticket 1 Bad Driver: Excessive Deployment?



After leaving the Pacific Film Archive's sold-out screening on Saturday, January 25, of Satyajit Ray's magnificent "The Music Room", I recorded this video shot along Bancroft Way.

A mature hippie-ish guy on a bicycle (you know the type), was standing near the scene watching the three Berkeley police officers deal with the driver, and he thought the cops were ticketing the driver for going through the red light at Telegraph Avenue. It seemed an excessive show of police power for one bad driver.

A bit further down Bancroft Way, after passing an AC Transit bus, there was a UC Berkeley campus police SUV, a Berkeley fire department paramedic rescue vehicle and a fire engine, and finally a campus police car.

I asked the three young male student jocks (I wish to know the type in the buff!!), walking on the sidewalk what was happening in the gym and they said a student had passed but was doing fine when they saw her being tended to.

One thing I learned is that it's not just San Francisco that sends out a fire engine to a medical call. Sure wish first responder resources were better utilized and just medical personnel in EMT vehicles answered medical calls.

Here's the link to my post and video from last week about a dozen San Francisco police officers arresting one drunk in the Mission. Another display of excessive police, IMHO. We all have a duty to keep tabs on our local police and first responder forces and their stewardship of taxpayer dollars and equipment.