The police sergeant at the center of the misconduct allegations stepped down from his post as president of the Berkeley Police Association, the union representing the department's roughly 150 police officers.
Sgt. Darren Kacalek allegedly sent text messages that were racist and anti-homeless and may have established an arrest quota. Kacalek is the supervisor for the Downtown Task Force/Bike Unit, which consists of six officers and two sergeants.
Board Vice President Sgt. Scott Castle said in a statement Wednesday: "Today, BPA president Darren Kacalek's requested a leave of absence from the association board. In light of allegations about inappropriate text messages, we have accepted his request."
In one message from Kacalek, he appears to repost a message from a person selling their "white privilege card," according to the website for Secure Justice, a nonprofit that opposes state abuse of power and which published some of the messages.
Kacalek sent the allegedly inappropriate messages when Louis was a captain and she may have known about them yet did nothing, according to a statement from Nathan Mizell, who is vice chair of the Berkeley Police Accountability Board.
Louis on Tuesday denied she knew about the alleged misconduct.
