Incompetent Police

From the Daily Cal:

UCPD did not have adequate staffing to address Thursday night's occupation of Durant Hall and had hoped for assistance from local police departments. But the help did not arrive in time to prevent the occupiers from taking to the streets in what would become an hour-and-a-half-long riot.

About 50 protesters occupied the UC Berkeley building at about 11:15 p.m., but UCPD did not respond until 11:49 p.m. and did not request assistance from the Berkeley Police Department until sometime between midnight and 12:30 a.m., according to Berkeley police Officer Andrew Frankel. The assistance did not arrive until after the occupiers left the building more than an hour later at about 1:38 a.m., according to UCPD Captain Margo Bennett.

"It's a given that when you have routine patrol staffing on board, that is not enough staffing to handle the taking over of a building," Bennett said.

"We've relied upon the working arrangement we have with the BPD, and ... upon the Office of Emergency Services through the county to help us with providing more staffing than we can provide."

Bennett did not specify how many UCPD officers were on duty at the time of the occupation.

Although the occupiers remained at Durant Hall for more than two and a half hours, the police departments did not muster enough of a presence to keep them from leaving the scene and taking to the streets.

"We requested BPD to assist us, and they arrived after the students left the building," Bennett said.