A Berkeley police sergeant at the center of a texting scandal has been placed on administrative leave, city officials said Wednesday.
Sgt. Darren Kacalek, who has been on the Berkeley police force since July 2002, is accused by a former officer of racist and disparaging messages about the homeless.
Kacalek is a supervisor for the city's downtown task force/bike unit, which has six officers and two sergeants. In one message Kacalek appears to repost a message from a person selling their"white privilege card," according to the website Secure Justice, a nonprofit based in Oakland that published some of the messages.Shedoudy's email claims that the police bike unit was ordered by Kacalek to make 100 arrests per month. That was"more than the rest of the police department combined," according to a copy of Shedoudy's email, posted on the Secure Justice website.
In the wake of the accusations, Kacalek has stepped down from his post as president of the Berkeley Police Association, the union representing the department's roughly 150 police officers said Tuesday.prompted the Berkeley City Council to delay making interim Police Chief Jennifer Louis's job permanent
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