Administration

All members of the UC community should feel valued, welcomed and free from any threat of physical, psychological or emotional harm. Our campus safety system must reflect the needs and values of a diverse campus community including those vulnerable to harm. Specific strategies and tactics in the campus plans will be shaped by a process that includes a broad representation of the campus population.

The campus safety system will provide high-quality service in a courteous and accessible manner that allows our community to feel safe and respected in every interaction. Interactions will be held to a high standard of respect and fairness and will be monitored. Hiring procedures and guidelines for campus safety personnel will involve the participation of a broad representation of campus community groups including students, faculty, and staff. This begins a continuous process. Campuses will continually engage their communities and improve campus safety practices.

To ensure the safety of the UC community, a tiered response model will match a call for service with the appropriate type of response and responder(s). This holistic approach will deliberately integrate campus policing with mental health, wellness, basic needs, bias/hate response and other services through inter-departmental partnerships and cross-trainings. Multi-disciplinary crisis teams will triage behavioral health crises, conduct wellness checks, and safely connect individuals to coordinated care, including health and social support resources.

Non-sworn security personnel will more visibly render services such as residence hall foot patrols, providing safe shuttles/walks to students, staffing events requiring additional security, and diffusing unsafe behavior. The University will prioritize deterrence and prevention of violent crimes over the enforcement of non-violent minor offenses, such as non-hazardous traffic violations. The University will reinforce existing guidelines to minimize police presence at peaceful protests, and to seek non-urgent mutual aid first from UC campuses before calling outside law enforcement agencies.

A systemwide dashboard with campus-level detail will be created and regularly updated, to inform and empower the UC community. This data will be used to assess campus safety practices, generate recommendations for best practices, and hold the institution accountable.

Campus complaint processes are essential mechanisms for the community to report misconduct and ensure that officers are acting consistently with rules, policies and the law. A standardized and robust complaint and investigation process will be implemented through police accountability boards.
The Office of President will designate a full-time position in service to the campuses, to coordinate campus safety, ensure continuous improvement through best practices and monitor the implementation of the Presidential Campus Safety Plan.

Two UC campuses (UC Davis and UC San Francisco) are currently accredited by IACLEA, the International Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators. IACLEA is grounded in President Obama’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing and continually evaluates and implements best practices for campus safety as part of its accreditation standards. The remaining eight UC campuses will seek this accreditation. Review and accreditation by independent third-party experts will demonstrate operational readiness, align policies and procedures with modern professional standards and best practices, promote a strong emphasis on the safety of the public and officers, offer additional community input opportunities, and provide an independent and ongoing audit and review function.