BERKELEY — The Berkeley City Council wants Vollmer Peak renamed, claiming the man it’s named after was instrumental in instilling “systemic racial bias in policing.”

At its meeting Tuesday, the council agreed to send a letter asking the East Bay Regional Park District to find another name for the peak which is part of Tilden Regional Park.

August Vollmer (with glasses) pictured with Aurelia Reinhardt (middle) in the 1940s. They were part of the original five members of the the board of the East Bay Regional Parks District. (Courtesy of East Bay Regional Park District) East Bay Regional Park District

The peak is named after August “Gus” Vollmer, dubbed the “Father of American Policing” in history books, who served as the city’s first appointed police chief in 1909 and last elected town marshal. He was known for being ahead of his time when it came to policing — a pioneer in technological innovations such as using police cars, police radios, lie detectors and forensic evidence. He helped organize a criminology school at UC Berkeley and believed police officers should have a college degree.

He hired Berkeley’s first woman and first African-American police officers a century ago, and told white officers who objected they could resign if they didn’t want to work with a black officer.

But according to Berkeley Councilmember Cheryl Davila, who introduced the resolution seeking a name change for Vollmer Peak, even though he may have been considered progressive, “it is clear that he personally upheld White Supremacy and further codified it in his esteemed criminology school.”

His criminology school and curriculum included units on racial types, race degeneration, eugenics and hereditary crime and criminal tendencies, according to a city staff report prepared for the council’s discussion.

“Vollmer’s own biases have been programmed into the operations of the Berkeley Police Department since its inception,” according to the staff report. which noted he was believed to have been a member of eugenics societies. Eugenics is a philosophy and social movement that advocates for selective breeding to improve the genetic composition of the human race.

“The killing of George Floyd and the countless others, prompted a constituent to contact me about Vollmer Peak to voice their concerns, I listened and agreed. We came up with a plan, collected some data and proceeded,” Davila told this news organization in an email explaining why she is pursuing the nam change.

In a survey of 125 East Bay Regional Park respondents, 88% said they would support renaming the peak. When presented with the choice of renaming the peak or just informing the public about Vollmer’s background, 87% said they would still rename the peak. Of those surveyed, 73 were from Berkeley, 20 from Oakland, and others from surrounding areas.

East Bay Regional Parks spokesman Dave Mason said although the peak is technically in Orinda, the board will receive Berkeley’s request for name change consideration.

“The Park District has an extensive protocol for the naming and renaming parks, trails, or special features, including research using the park’s land use plan and public engagement with the District’s Park Advisory Committee and formal Board review.”

He said the district board or a board subcommittee will discuss the request at an upcoming meeting.

After Vollmer died in 1955, Bald Peak was renamed Vollmer Peak in his honor. The renaming was mostly because he was a founder and board director of the East Bay Regional Park District for 15 years, according to the district. He wrote a lot about how parks and recreational activities were positive alternatives for people and a deterrent to criminal behavior.

Vollmer opposed the death penalty and Japanese-American incarceration during World War II.

Although he had no children, he loved kids and was known as “Uncle Gus” in his Oakland neighborhood. One child, Gretchen Fretter, was inspired to become a police officer for the parks district because of him, according to the district.

In recent years, schools, streets, buildings, parks and other institutions or places have been renamed when the racist pasts of their namesakes have been flagged. UC Berkeley’s law school, for example, recently changed Boalt Hall to The Law Building after it was discovered John Boalt fueled anti-Chinese racism in 1870s and 1880s. Stanford University in 2018 announced it would rename campus buildings and areas that included the name of Father Junipero Serra, the 18th-century founder of California’s missions who has more recently been reviled for abusing Native Americans.