A pioneering police officer, Jennifer Louis is poised to record several historic firsts at the Berkeley Police Department as a gay Asian woman selected to serve as chief. But as she awaits a City Council confirmation vote, a 2017 investigation into sexual harassment allegations has come to light.
An outside law firm hired by the city to investigate upheld allegations that she made harassing comments to one woman, but not claims made by two other women, according to city investigative and disposition records reviewed by the Los Angeles Times. Louis appealed to Berkeley City Manager Dee Williams-Ridley and in 2018 was given a written reprimand, stating that some comments she made were "unprofessional," which has since been removed from her record.
Louis joined the Berkeley police in 1999 and rose steadily through the ranks — from patrol to working as a supervisor in the Special Victims Unit, to heading the department's Strategic Response Team. She was made one of the department's four captains in 2016 and spearheaded the police response to the pandemic.
