Law Enforcement Offer Solutions To Quell Violence At Berkeley High

BERKELEY (KCBS)- East bay law enforcers are offering suggestions on how to fix growing problems of violence at Berkeley High School after three students were arrested this week on gun charges.

More than half a dozen students have been arrested on gun charges since the beginning of the school year including an incident on Tuesday where someone fired off a round inside a boy's bathroom stall.

Matt Golde, an Alameda County Deputy District Attorney in the Juvenile Division, said if something isn't done soon, someone is going to get hurt or killed.

"I think they are well past the tipping point," said Golde.

KCBS' Mark Seelig Reports:

Superintendent Bill Huyett has since stated that more security guards would be added to the campus, and community meetings would be held. He also said he would welcome any suggestion on how to improve safety.

Golde said he hasn't been explicitly asked to intervene, but said he felt that it's part of his job to speak out.

"They certainly have the right to know who among their 3,400 people in that school are either on probation or have serious and violent criminal history so they can keep an eye on them and protect the rest of the community," he said.

Other measures that have been successful at other crime-ridden schools include installing cameras and instituting a dress code, but some worry that those could harm individual freedoms.

Golde said that would be up to the district to decide which is more important.

He also notes that Berkeley High isn't the only school to experience these kinds of problems and that they just happen to be the one in the spotlight right now.

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