Menlo Park police chief says he’s retiring
Abrupt announcement at town hall meeting shocks mayor, city council
In the middle of a contentious town hall meeting about police reform, Menlo Park Police Chief Dave Bertini shocked city leaders when he abruptly announced his retirement.
“It’s obvious to me that I’ve lost the trust of the City Council, and hopefully this will give this organization a fresh start,” Bertini said during Thursday night’s meeting. He added that his last day as chief would be July 31.
Bertini’s announcement came after weeks of nationwide protests over police brutality and the death of George Floyd that have led to resounding calls from residents to defund police departments and reshape the role of policing within society.
The goal of Menlo Park’s town hall meeting was for the council to gather feedback from the community and brainstorm new policies to implement in the city’s Police Department.
For more than an hour, residents voiced concerns and negative experiences with Menlo Park police officers — from overpolicing in certain areas to racial profiling to lacking transparency with the department’s data — and the council pondered options it could pursue to begin tackling the issues.
Some of the suggestions included creating a public database that details the location and race of people stopped by the Police Department, evaluating the number of officers needed to patrol the city and reconsidering the use of Facebook funds to indirectly pay for a police unit to cover the city’s Belle Haven area.
“There is a difference of experience with the Menlo Park Police Department often based on location and skin color,” resident Andrew Olson, 24, said during the meeting. “Our officers protect and serve and put themselves on the line, but the truth shouldn’t fear the light.”
Vice Mayor Drew Combs, a Black member of the council, said
that all of his interactions with Menlo Park police officers have been positive, but he admitted: “I, too, am afraid of the police because I carry all those experiences and stories, specifically, of men in my family and my experiences in other communities.
“There is obviously an issue when it comes to the
interactions with police in our community and people of color,” Combs said. “… And this is a real opportunity for us to think about how we want to approach public safety and policing in our community that doesn’t have some of these lingering issues of fear and interactions with those who are, in theory, there to protect them.”
In the midst of the council’s discussion, Council member Ray Mueller brought Bertini into the
conversation and asked him his perspective on what was needed to build a better relationship between the Police Department and residents.
In response, Bertini said that “he had heard a lot from the community and our elected officials, and the only thing I can really say is that ‘I hear you.’ ”
“All police offers are hurting right now based on actions that have happened thousands of miles away from us,” he added.
“It is very difficult to listen to; it is very difficult to see.
“I think honestly there’s only one way that this conversation can go forward — and that’s a fresh start.”
Bertini said his intention was to retire at the end of July but that he would work with the city until it found a replacement.
The statement from Bertini came as a surprise to the council and Mayor Cecilia Taylor, who said during the public meeting that it was the first she had
heard of his resignation. Taylor promptly called for a 15-minute recess and after a short discussion upon returning to the meeting, the council members voted 4-0 to go into a closed session to discuss the matter away from public scrutiny.
Bertini began his policing career nearly 35 years ago as a reserve officer in Pacifica. Bertini joined the Menlo Park Police Department in 2011 as a police commander before being named interim police chief
in January 2018. Bertini has served as the city’s permanent police chief since July 2018, with a base annual salary of at least $206,000.
In a statement issued later that night, City Manager Starla Jerome-Robinson called Bertini a “valued leader, instructor and eminent law enforcement professional in the Bay Area.”
“I am grateful for his service and willingness to stay on to help us work through this very challenging time,” she said in the statement.