The Way We Live Now (at Berkeley) – Part 2

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.