BART Police Citizen Review Board (BPCRB)

BART District 1 - Torin Fischer

Torin Fischer was appointed to the BART’s Citizen Police Review Board in December of 2023. He was appointed by BART Board Director Debora Allen.  He has 42 years of law enforcement experience, and has worked in three different police agencies.  Mr. Fischer has a Bachelor's Degree and is a graduate of POST Command College. In June of 2023 he completed a one year assignment, serving as the Foreperson for the Alameda County Civil Grand Jury. He believes in community participation in local government and is thankful for the opportunity to be part of the BART Citizens Police Review.

BART District 2 - Sonja Shephard

Sonja Shepard was appointed to the BART’s Citizen Police Review Board in July of 2023 by BART Board Director Mark Foley. She is a certified paralegal and active member of the East Contra Costa County NAACP. She previously served in the US Navy. She completed Oakland’s Citizen Police Academy, and since 2014 has been organizing and chairing Neighborhood Watch groups in Oakland and Pittsburg, working closely with community groups and local police departments to combat crime in low-income neighborhoods. Sonja also has HUD housing experience and has worked extensively with seniors. She currently serves as the Board President of Stoneman Village Apartments in Pittsburg and the Vice President of the Pittsburg Fifty Plus Club.

BART District 3 - William C. White

William C. White was appointed to the BART Police Citizen Review Board in March 2011 representing District 3, by BART’s former Board President Bob Franklin and has been since reappointed by Director Rebecca Saltzman. He has served as the Staff Accountant of the Alumnae Association of Mills College, Business Manager for the California Shakespeare Theatre and Director of Operation for the Berkeley YMCA. He is currently a small business owner in Emeryville California.

Mr. White has served as a City of Berkeley Commissioner on the Cable Television Board, Personnel Board and from 1996 to 2013 sat on Police Review Commission (PRC) where he served as Chair three different terms. Mr. White has also given leadership as Board Chair of Building Opportunity for Self Sufficiency (BOSS), Chair of Berkeley Salvation Army Advisory Board, Board Member of the South Berkeley YMCA, member of the Berkeley Lions Club and Past President of the Alameda Flying Club and Board Member of the Bay Area Black Pilots Association (BABPA).

Mr. White attended Florida A & M University earning a BFA in Fine Arts with a Business Administration Minor.

BART District 4- Dana Lang

Dana Lang was appointed to the BART Police Citizen Review Board in December 2021 by BART Director Robert Raburn. Ms. Lang has 20 years of experience in transportation, including securing federal and state grants for transit systems and police departments, and outreach to engage local businesses in transportation-related contracts. She has worked for the Oakland Mayor’s Office (Mayor Elihu Harris), the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, the San Francisco Police Department, the San Francisco International Airport, and serves as a consultant to Luster National, Inc.

Ms. Lang is currently a small business and grants consultant and serves on the boards of the AIMS K-12 College Prep Academy and the Conference of Minority Transportation Officials (COMTO, Norcal Chapter). She is Alumni Co-chair of the Cal Berkeley African American Initiative (AAI) and is Wellesley Alumnae Class Treasurer. Dana Lang received a B.A. degree from Wellesley College (Economics) and an M.B.A. from the U.C. Berkeley Haas School of Business. She has earned a 3rd degree black belt in Tae kwon do and continues to train in martial arts.

BART District 5- Currently Vacant

BART District 6 - Lester M. Mensinger  

Lester Mensinger was appointed to the BART Police Citizen Review Board in January 2024 by BART Director Liz Ames. He was born in Hayward, CA and has been a lifelong rider of BART since the first year it opened. He works for the Oakland Unified School District as a special education teacher and student case manager. He holds a B.S. degree in business as well as multiple Masters degrees in education. He served in the U.S. ARMY in special operations and worked in multiple different theaters throughout the Middle East and Africa. His duties included investigations, interrogations, and implementation of U.S. policies. He has been a youth football coach and served as the 1st Vice commander for the American Legion Post 837. Mr Mensinger has served in various different local boards and committees as a member and organizer. Currently, he is a senior counselor for the California Boys and Girls State program that he has served on for 20+ years.

He is honored and looks forward to providing a fair and unbiased review of BART police incident, policy, and procedure reports in service for his fellow community members.

BART District 7- Currently Vacant  

BART District 8- David W. Rizk    

David Rizk was appointed to the BPCRB in July 2015 by BART Director Nicholas Josefowitz. Mr. Rizk is an Assistant Federal Public Defender who lives in San Francisco and commutes to Oakland on BART. He was previously in private practice at the San Francisco law firm of Keker, Van Nest & Peters LLP. Mr. Rizk is a member of the Bar Association of San Francisco’s Criminal Justice Task Force, which promotes reforms in the criminal justice system and within the San Francisco Police Department. Mr. Rizk is also a member of the Board of Governors of the California Attorneys for Criminal Justice. Mr. Rizk studied law and public policy at Stanford University; he holds a B.A. from Harvard College. Mr. Rizk served as a law clerk to Judge Richard Seeborg on the United States District Court for the Northern District of California and Judge Jacqueline Nguyen on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

BART District 9 - George D. Perezvelez

Board member George David Perezvelez served as the first Chair of the BPCRB for the 2011-2012 and elected again for the 2017-2018 and 2018-2019 term. Mr. Perezvelez is a current NACOLE executive board member (National Association for Civilian Oversight of Law Enforcement) where he serves as treasurer and Chair of the Policy Committee and served in the Berkeley Police Review Commission for 14 years. Mr. Perezvelez brings to the BPCRB 20 plus years of police oversight experience and has been involved in policy recommendations on subcommittees addressing Office Involved Shootings, Use of Force, Impartial Policing, Crowd Control, Mutual Aid Pacts among many others. Mr. Perezvelez currently works as a Director of Operations for a hospitality group in San Francisco.

Public-At-Large - Currently Vacant                                                 

Erin Armstrong received her Masters in Business Administration and Public Policy  (MBA/MPP) from Mills College in 2018, following a decades long career in social and  community welfare. She currently works on Special Projects and Policy for Alameda County Supervisor Nate Miley's office, with a focus on issues such as Early Care and Education, Public Protection, and Social Services.

As the first openly-transgender YouTube blogger, beginning in 2006, Erin has had a global impact in raising awareness of issues facing the transgender community, and has had her work featured in Rolling Stone Magazine, Huffington Post, and the Los Angeles Times. In 2013 she was recognized for her activism in the Inaugural Trans 100 List.

Gabriel Rodrigues - BART Police Citizen Review Board seat filled by the BART Police Officer's Association.

Gabe Rodrigues has always had a passion for BART. Gabe’s father was one of the original BART employees who made national news for operating the first public BART train through the Trans-Bay Tube. Gabe grew up in Hayward and completed his B.A. in Management at Saint Mary’s College of California and his MBA at California State University at Hayward. Gabe’s first career was in the Bay Area grocery business starting off cleaning the local Ralph’s store starting at 5:00 AM before going to school. Gabe worked his way up in the industry to the corporate executive level while leaving that career as a Director of Sales for an International food manufacturing company. At 48 years old, Gabe was accepted to the Contra Costa County Office of the Sheriff’s Law Enforcement Academy. After completing a grueling 6-month academy, Gabe was sworn in as a Deputy Sheriff. During his law enforcement career, Gabe received multiple commendations including Deputy of the Month. Gabe was a Field Training Officer as well as a member of the prestigious Mutual Aid Mobile Field Force. While in Law Enforcement, Gabe was elected as the Safety Trustee on the Contra Costa County Employee’s Retirement Association and as the Vice President of the State Association of County Retirement Systems. Gabe was very active in legislation involving public policies to include submitting a bill to the Governor of California as well as meeting with the U.S. Congress and Senate Staff at Washington D.C.

Gabe retired from law enforcement in 2019 followed by becoming a member of the 2020-2021 Alameda County Civil Grand Jury. Gabe works part-time for the Superior Court of Alameda County. Gabe is a strong believer in public service and giving back to his community. Gabe is the son of immigrants who instilled in him a strong work ethic and a respect of others. Gabe prides himself in being respectful and keeping an open mind to the beliefs and ideas of others. Gabe is a proud father and grandfather. His greatest accomplishment is to have been a single parent raising his two children who have turned out to be kind, loving and successful adults. Gabe enjoys spending time with his children, grandchildren and traveling.

Meeting Location and Time

The BPCRB usually meets in the BART Board Room, which is located in the BART Board Room, 2150 Webster Street, 1st Floor, Oakland CA 94612. Regular meetings are generally scheduled for the second Monday for each month at 4:00 PM. In case of an occasional change to the meeting schedule and/or meeting location, it is advisable to check the agenda of the meeting you plan to attend. Agendas are posted prior to each meeting on the "Agenda & Minutes" section of the Board of Director's webpage. All agendas and attachments for the BART Police Citizen Review Board (BPCRB) are available on Legistar only https://bart.legistar.com/Calendar.aspx. 

Pursuant to Govt. Code §54953.5, the audio recording of the open session portions of this public meeting shall be subject to inspection pursuant to the California Public Records Act (CPRA). Requests for information under the CPRA should be filed with the BART Office of the District Secretary.

Resources

Download the BART Police Citizen Review Board's Bylaws.

Download the BART Police Citizen Review Board's Reports to the BART Board of Directors:

2013 2nd Quarter Report  
BART 2013 3rd qrt (Final)  
BART 2013 4th qrt-final  
BART 2013 annual rpt.3.10  
BART 2014 1st qrt-final  
BART 2014 2nd qrt-final  
BART 2014 3rd qrt rpt (FINAL)  
BART 2014 4th qrt  
BART 2014 annual  
BART 2015 1st qrt  
BART 2015 2nd qrt  
BART 2015 3rd qrt  
BART 2015 4th qrt  
BART 2015 Annual Report  
BART 2016 1st qrt  
BART 2016 2nd qrt  
BART 2016 3rd qrt  
BART 2016 4th qtr  
BART 2017 1st qtr  
BART 2017 2nd qtr  
BART 2017 3rd qtr  
BART 2017 4th qtr  
BART 2018 1st qtr  
BART 2018 2nd qtr  
BART 2018 3rd qtr  
BART 2018 4th qtr 
BART 2023 4th qtr
BART 2024 1st and 2nd qtr

Use of Force Data 2017-2019:

Pursuant to a request from the BART Police Department Citizen Review Board, on October 13, 2020, the BART Police Department produced internal data concerning all use of force incidents from 2017-2019 in three spreadsheets, which are available for download below. This data was collected, maintained, and produced by BART Police Department personnel. The BART PD Citizen Review Board takes no responsibility for the accuracy of this data. 

2017 Use of Force Data  
2018 Use of Force Data  
2019 Use of Force Data