On February 4th, at approximately 11:48 am, the Berkeley Police Department received a report that a City of Berkeley employee made threats to shoot themselves and other City of Berkeley employees.
The weekend patrol teams began working on this investigation, contacting the involved parties and ensuring people were safe. A warrant was obtained for Pat Urdahl, a City of Berkeley employee, and BPD established a security plan to ensure the safety of all involved parties.
On February 5th, Officers were dispersed throughout the City to provide additional security if Urdahl came to work. When Urdahl did not arrive at work, our Detectives Bureau, Special Response Team and additional officers, responded to a location in the City of Concord to serve a search and arrest warrant.
Around 1:18 pm, Urdahl was arrested without further incident. A search was conducted at the location, resulting in recovery of a firearm, ammunition, and controlled substances.
On February 7th, Urdahl was charged with PC 422(A)- Willfully threatens to commit a crime, PC 29800(A)(1)- Possession of a firearm by a felon, HS 11370.1(A)- Possession of a controlled substance while armed, along with several felony enhancements.
The Berkeley Police Department would like to thank the Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Department and the Concord Police Department for assisting in this investigation.
Editors Note:
In San Jose, State Senator Dave Cortese is the author of SB 553, which would establish new workplace violence prevention standards which passed the Senate in June and was signed into law by Governor Gavin Newsom in September.
Senator Cortese’s SB 553:
- Require employers to maintain a Violent Incident Log of all violent incidents against employees including post-incident investigations and response;
- Require all non-healthcare employers to provide active shooter training;
- Require retail employers to provide shoplifter training;
- Prohibit employers from maintaining policies that require workers to confront suspected active shoplifters;
- Include, as part of the existing Injury and Illness Prevention Program (IIPP), an assessment of staffing levels as a cause for workplace violence incidents;
- Requires employers to include an evaluation of environmental risk factors in their Workplace Violence Prevention Plan.
- Allow an employee representative to be a petitioner for a workplace violence restraining order;
- Require employers to refer workers to wellness centers.
