‘UCLA did not…have any plans for how to respond to campus disruptions,’ group stated
The University of California, Los Angeles should make “long-term,” “fundamental, structural changes” after months of disruptive anti-Israel protests wreaked havoc on campus, a watchdog group investigation recently concluded.
The university displayed “shortcomings, performance failures, systems breakdown, and campus safety issues” during the campus protests in April and May, including one during which an officer was injured, the 21st Century Policing Solutions report states.
The watchdog group offered recommendations “designed to ensure that UCLA’s response to acts of civil disobedience aligns with its commitments to freedom of expression and the protection of the health, safety, and well-being of the UCLA community.”
The group called for the school to develop a comprehensive campus safety plan and response strategy, implement staff training on campus disruptions, define the roles of campus leaders during emergencies, enhance UCLA Police Department training, and introduce new campus roles, among other measures.
The report also called the university’s handling of the protests “chaotic.” The company stated:
As described below, in the long-term, UCLA will need to address the possibility of making fundamental, structural changes to its public safety ecosystem, including by engaging in a community-driven process to define public safety objectives and goals and by making expanded resources available beyond law enforcement to support those goals.
In the short-term, however, UCLA must make immediate changes and develop plans to effectively respond to campus disruptions using existing resources. We are encouraged that UCLA already has begun work to implement these immediate changes.
“UCLA did not, at the time of the encampment, have any plans for how to respond to campus disruptions and how decisions about University responses would be made,” the report states.
University leaders lacked “a commonly understood process for reaching decisions” and were unable “to react quickly to fast-changing events and dynamic circumstances on campus,” it states.
MORE: Violence erupts at another anti-Israel protest at UCLA; police arrest 25
In the spring, protesters set up a so-called Jewish Exclusion Zone on campus. Only students who showed support for their anti-Israel cause were allowed to enter. As a result, Jewish students filed a lawsuit against the school, accusing UCLA of allowing the exclusive zone and protecting the protestors.
During another protest, riot police cleared out a pro-Palestinian encampment and arrested hundreds of demonstrators. The campus was covered with blankets and graffiti, and classes were canceled, The College Fix previously reported.
In August, U.S. District Judge Mark Scarsi ordered UCLA to protect Jewish students who are returning to campus for the fall semester.
“The question — still — is whether UCLA will fully comply with Judge Scarsi’s order and take concrete actions to protect Jewish students on its campus,” Mark Rienzi, an attorney representing the students, previously told The College Fix.
MORE: University of California spends $29 million on protest security, cleanup
IMAGE: Jon Baird/X screenshot
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