As blog readers will know, a group of parents hired a private
guard service to patrol the UC-Berkeley campus in response to reports of crime.* The hiring, however, was only for a limited time period, presumably to push the
Berkeley administration to add more security. The San Francisco Chronicle
covers the story:
Dusk was gathering around the UC
Berkeley campus as six security guards began their rounds, radios crackling
from their bright yellow jackets… The guards, hired by parents so unsettled by
campus crime that they raised $42,000 for private patrols, are on a short-term
pilot program from March 6 to 23. Each night, they circle the elite university
from 6:30 p.m. to 3 a.m., tracing a perimeter bounded by frat row, the
dormitory high-rises and Telegraph Avenue.
Since they are not authorized to
enter school property, the security officers instead plod up and down sidewalks
or bicycle along roadways, offering to walk students home and occasionally
snapping selfies with bystanders. They have orders to avoid physical
confrontations, track interactions with the public, and call 911 if they
witness serious criminal behavior.
To date, the SafeBears ambassadors
have provided safety escort services to 49 people, engaged nine times with
people living on the street and conveyed visitor information to 42 people. As
of Monday, they had not intervened in any disturbances. But in at least one
sense, the program has been wildly successful. Parents have put a spotlight on
campus safety and mounted pressure on the university…
University officials, however,
express skepticism. “Hiring private security raises a number of concerns
including the training and experience of individuals hired by such firms,” a
university spokesperson told the Chronicle in an email correspondence,
responding to a series of questions about SafeBears. The spokesperson indicated
that UC Berkeley administrators do not support spending university funds on
security contractors, assuring the money would be better allocated “hiring more
sworn or non-sworn UCPD officers.” …
Full story at https://www.sfchronicle.com/crime/article/uc-berkeley-private-security-guards-18985225.php.
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*https://uclafacultyassociation.blogspot.com/2024/03/the-way-we-live-now-at-berkeley.html.
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