UCLA protests: the campus police perspective

OPINION – Protests on college campuses have been a fixture of social movements for decades – as peace officers, we fully support and defend every American’s First Amendment right to peacefully protest. However, while the First Amendment protects peaceful protest, it does not sanction actions such as property destruction, intimidation, or violence – all of which is taking place amidst the ongoing protests on UCLA’s campus. These actions compromise safety, undermine the integrity of the protests themselves, and interfere with the rights of other faculty and students choosing not to participate.

As the guardians of public safety on college campuses, we have called on the UC Board of Regents to work with us on solutions that allow for peaceful protests while ensuring California universities achieve their mission of safely educating their students.

As public safety experts, our training enables us to recognize when peaceful protests begin to devolve into dangerous situations and to respond swiftly while prioritizing the protection of human life and property. While our officers are trained and well-prepared, law enforcement within the UC system still operates according to an outdated guidebook prepared ten years ago.

While that was a good start, a lot has changed in ten years. Many of the recommendations in the guidebook failed to make their way into formal and transparent university policies that all parties can be held accountable for adhering to. Campus police today operate under a new and heightened level of scrutiny and according to an entirely new set of cultural mores adopted on college campuses and promulgated by faculty that motivates non-compliance with law enforcement directives.

A pervasive anti-police bias amongst California’s faculty – as evidenced by the overtly political and frankly offensive statement made by the California Faculty Association calling police “violence workers”– unfortunately makes the job of achieving safer outcomes on campus that much harder.

Unlike the California Faculty Association, campus police officers are not political. They do not opine on geo-politics, and they do not take sides based on pre-conceived political opinions. Because when it comes to safety, there are no sides. Everyone deserves to feel safe on campus. That goes for students, non-students, faculty, and yes, even campus police.

Imagine if you were one of 55 sworn officers on staff at UCLA as compared with a student body of over 46,000, and you were called on to quell unrest amongst the students when you know their teachers are telling them police are “violence workers.” California’s university faculty need to be partners with campus police in working to facilitate an environment where students can exercise their First Amendment rights peacefully. To do otherwise is both irresponsible and dangerous.

We are committed to upholding the law while respecting every individual’s rights and we know California’s academic leadership are too. There are a number of changes that can be made to honor that commitment, but the absence of more specific university policies that pre-authorize officers to prevent actions that we know lead to violence puts the entire campus community at greater risk of harm.

For example, the erection of make-shift structures, tent encampments, or other barriers on campus grounds inherently creates a fortified and physically defensible position that increases the risk of harm when officers are finally authorized to intervene. It should be campus policy that these actions are impermissible and campus police officers should have pre-approved authority and discretion to politely ask that they be removed, to arrest any individual refusing to comply with the campus policy, and to remove any such barriers or structures from campus grounds immediately.

Once a university has developed a plan, all parties who are expected to respond should receive ongoing training in preparation for when action is needed.

Finally, response plans can only be effective when university police departments have the resources they need to respond quickly and in accordance with school policies – these resources are critical to ensuring campus law enforcement is fully-staffed and prepared to respond to potential threats.

By developing plans and committing resources to their implementation, we can create an environment that allows for productive civic engagement and respects the rights and well-being of all individuals, including students, faculty, and non-students choosing to exercise their First Amendment rights.

We are eager to work with collaboratively with university administrators, faculty, lawmakers, and campus communities to develop solutions that both prevent violence from sparking and effectively address unrest if it occurs, so that California universities can continue to be productive learning environments.

Wade Stern is the president of the Federated University Police Officer Association (FUPOA), representing over 250 police officers within the University of California Police Department System.

Brian Marvel is President of the Peace Officers Research Association of California (PORAC), a professional federation of local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies.