UCLA paid $400K to remove rodents, encampment debris
Security and cleanup expenses related to pro-Palestinian protests cost the University of California at least $29 million this spring, according to a new report.
Since March 1, the state universities have spent the money to hire additional security, scrub graffiti from buildings, remove trash from protesters’ encampments, and pay pest control to get rid of rodents and cockroaches, the Los Angeles Times reported this week based on preliminary estimates from the UC.
Most of the money, about $26 million, paid for increased security, according to the report.
In the spring, protests on UC campuses resulted in hundreds of arrests, including more than 200 at UC Los Angeles in early May, The College Fix reported.
Afterward, photos showed massive debris left over from the cleared UCLA encampment and graffiti covering several buildings.
NEW: UCLA campus looks like a landfill after pro-Palestine protesters, many of whom are also environmental activists, demolished the campus.
Police are dismantling the fortified camp after an intense night.
Police fired flash-bangs at the protesters last night before… pic.twitter.com/d70wBEmxD6
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) May 2, 2024
The university spent approximately $10 million on security and $400,00 to restore the campus, including pest removal, trash disposal, and vandalism repairs, according to the report.
The LA Times reports more:
When a university brings in outside law enforcement agencies, it must pay not only for officers’ time, including overtime, but also for lodging, transportation and meals for those who are deployed from outside the area. For large protests, such “mutual aid” is often necessary, since campus police forces are relatively small, ranging from 66 sworn officers at UCLA to 19 at UC Merced.
UC Berkeley spent $8 million on campus protests between March 1 and June 25. Campus leaders and protesters reached an agreement to remove the Berkeley encampment voluntarily without police intervention, but some of the $7.5 million spent on safety and security involved other protests.
On Thursday, student protesters criticized the UC Board of Regents for the massive security spending during a board meeting. Some accused police of unnecessary aggression and brutality toward the pro-Palestinian protesters, according to the report.
May, a UC Santa Cruz student who asked that her full name not be used, told the newspaper the money would have been better spent to help students who otherwise could not afford college.
“It’s absolutely atrocious that UC is willing to spend so much money to brutalize and silence us,” May said.
Meanwhile, one regent, who was not named in the report, said the students who vandalized university property should be the ones to pay for the damages they caused.
According to the report:
The costs are likely to continue to climb this fall if students resume protests, as many are vowing to do. UC regents and campus leaders are signaling they will no longer tolerate encampments and will insist on consistent enforcement of campus rules around free speech activities — which could escalate the use of law enforcement to take down tents, arrest resisters, control rallies and patrol the grounds.
UC said it is “actively exploring resources and strategies to prevent future incidents while upholding the principles of free expression.”
Universities in other states also have spent money to clean up graffiti and other damages caused by pro-Palestinian protesters to historic monuments, buildings, and libraries, The Fix reported.
MORE: ‘In the millions’: Anti-Israel graffiti, protest garbage costing universities big money
IMAGE: Jon Baird/X
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