Berkeley Host Program

Some members of the class have brought up the fact that downtown
Berkeley doesn't seem to be very well patrolled by the police. Despite the
fact that there is a downtown "beat" the police presence there is minimal.
It has also been noted that despite more stringent laws about allowable
public behavior, little seems to have changed in enforcing unacceptable or
dangerous behavior downtown.
I did some research into what the city is doing to solve this problem
and found that the City has approved implementation of what it calls the
Public Commons for Everyone Initiative. The PCEI calls on police to cite
people for lying on the sidewalk, smoking and other quality-of-life
infractions and to initiate services helping people whose behavior as
exhibited in shopping areas is deemed inappropriate. It will cost about $1
million per year to fund this initiative.
$200,000 of that money will be earmarked towards the Berkeley Host
Program. This program involves placing people on the streets who would work
among street people, visitors, residents, police and social services
agencies to identify problems in the commercial districts of Telegraph Ave
and Downtown. These people are supposed to be Berkeley's "eyes and ears" in
addressing citizen concerns and will help with enforcing the new tougher
standards against "yelling, littering, camping, drunkenness, smoking,
urinating and sex on sidewalks and in parks." They will not be police; it
has been suggested that the City employ seniors or social workers to walk
around the city, identify problems, and direct people to services or call
the police if necessary.
This program seems most targeted at some of the things that currently
make Downtown Berkeley less attractive than it could be. The other
components of the PCEI include a centralized homeless intake system, a
transition age youth program, hygiene maintenance job training and placement
program, and permanent supportive housing intensive services.

Scherr, Judith, "City Council Considers Public Commons Services," The
Berkeley Daily Planet, Feb. 12, 2008,
http://www.berkeleydaily.org/article.cfm?issue=02-12-08&storyID=29203.

Oakley, Doug, "City to Ban Sleeping on Sidewalks," East Bay Daily News, Feb.
19, 2008, http://www.ebdailynews.com/article/2007-11-29-homeless.

Jones, Carolyn, "Berkeley: Council Oks crackdown for parks, sidewalks," The
San Francisco Chronicle, Nov. 28, 2007,
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/11/28/BAFTTK4BB.DTL.

Office of the City Manager, Berkeley, "Consent Calendar: Request for
Proposed Schedule," Feb. 12, 2008,
http://www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/uploadedFiles/Clerk/Level_3_-_General/2008-02-1
2_Item_04_Formal_Bid_Solicitation_and_Request_for_Proposal_Scheduled_For_Pos
sible_Issuance_in_the_Next_30_Days.pdf.