On the one-year anniversary of Oct. 7, UCLA braced for potentially explosive protests as hundreds of people gathered on campus to mourn and rage over lives lost, hostages held, families destroyed and neighborhoods ravaged in the year since Hamas attacked southern Israel and Israel retaliated with a massive military assault on Gaza.
A tense moment came when pro-Palestinian supporters marched into a campus area off-limits to protest activities and initially refused to leave after student affairs staff told them they were violating campus rules.
Police were called in. They determined protesters were not breaking any laws. The protesters moved on and the night ended with no arrests, no significant confrontations — and, in an intentional UCLA effort to create a calmer environment, no visible massive mobilization of police in riot gear wielding batons...
⦁ Staffing: [Braziel] told The Times that he has hired outside consultants to do a deep dive into security staffing levels, based on such data as the number of calls and response times, to assess the optimal mix of civilians and sworn police officers needed to keep the campus safe. The work by Philadelphia-based Public Financial Management is part of a commission to set up the new Office of Campus Safety.
⦁ Protest response plan: He has hired outside help to prepare a protest response plan for fall term and beyond. The consulting firm, 21CP Solutions, is also conducting the systemwide review of UCLA’s actions during the melee and encampment takedown. That review was ordered by University of California President Michael V. Drake.
⦁ Training: Braziel said he is aiming to expand training of police officers and university leaders, including state and federally required emergency management practices, which had lapsed in some cases. He also said better-trained civilian security officers might command higher pay but would allow UCLA to deploy fewer of them.
⦁ Communications: He has hired Julie Parker Communications, a government and police crisis communication firm, to ramp up police messaging about campus events, such as protests, and introduce law enforcement forces to the public.
⦁ Relationships: Braziel said he is working to strengthen relationships with external law enforcement agencies and city leaders, which were frayed during the spring stemming from UCLA’s protest management. Several top LAPD leaders, for instance, told The Times that then-UCLA Police Chief John Thomas had tarnished the reputation of Los Angeles law enforcement with what they called his lack of planning and poor communication with them during the week of the melee and encampment takedown. Thomas, who has defended his actions, has been reassigned.
⦁ Integration: Campus police and civilian security officers need to become part of the campus, he said. It’s why he promoted the idea of UCLA-branded wear for civilian safety staff in the model of community policing that relies on strong relationships between security forces and those they serve...
[Braziel] declined to comment on why no university action was taken against pro-Palestinian students who refused to comply with protest rules on approved free speech zones and amplified-sound restrictions. He said police did not arrest anyone because protesters were not significantly disrupting campus operations, the trigger to declare an unlawful assembly and cite them if they refuse to leave.
...In an Oct. 6 video posted on social media, Officer Vanessa Alvarado urged the community in English and Spanish to attend commemoration events in a “responsible and safe manner” and pledged police commitment to safety. On Oct. 7, the department posted protest rules, and updates on traffic conditions around demonstrations, closed walkways and other information. And that evening, Acting Police Chief Scott Scheffler also took to social media to thank the community — an unusual step for what had been a generally close-mouthed police department...
Full story at https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2024-10-11/intense-ucla-policing-draws-scrutiny-as-security-chief-speaks-out-on-protests.
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