Do Cops Trust UCLA? Not So Much…

“Can I rent some of your police officers?”

“Sure – what are you going to do with them?”

“Ummmmm….”

“On second thought, no.”

Paraphrased obviously, but that was the gist of the conversation the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (OES) had with numerous southern California law enforcement agencies when it decided to actually finally try to do something about campus unrest.

Earlier this week, as initially reported by KFI-AM,  the OES contacted a number of different agencies to inquire about “renting” officers for 30 days.  The officers would work a 12 hour shift alongside the UCLA police department to help keep the campus calm.

The local chiefs refused, citing the absence of a coherent plan as to what the officers would actually be asked to do and that the request originated from OES and not UCLA itself (almost exclusively, requests for ‘mutual aid’ between police and/or fire agencies comes directly from the impacted agency, in this case the UCLA police.)

The OES lack of a plan, critics charge, echoes UCLA’s own failure to follow its previously researched and approved protest plans over the past few weeks

”The written guidelines for roles and responsibilities make clear that senior UC administrators on each campus are solely responsible for the University’s response to campus protests; those administrators decide the objective, and campus police are only responsible for tactics in implementing those objectives,” said Wade Stern, president of the Federated University Police Officers Association, the bargaining group that represents UC police officers. “As such, the UCLA administration owns all the fallout from the response and lack of response to this protest.”

For its part, the OES said regarding the planning issue that “(I)n no circumstances does Cal OES’ take operational command,” but did say that its request for officers to help UCLA is well within its remit.

“Under the long-standing state system of law enforcement mutual aid, local jurisdictions and law enforcement leaders at OES often collaborate to coordinate resources to meet the needs of local responders, including campus police,” said OES spokesperson Amy Palmer.  “This is aimed at ensuring the responding law enforcement agency (the UCLA police department, in this case) has the resources it needs to respond to incidents in their jurisdiction.”

That was not quite enough for Stern.

“The OES request indicates that the highest levels of government in California have no confidence in the UCLA administration’s ability to provide for campus safety and security. This lack of confidence is reflected in the fact that the Governor’s office, through OES, initiated the request without any apparent involvement from the UCLA administration,” said Stern.  “Equally noteworthy is the unanimous refusal by the various police chiefs on the call to agree to the OES request. Those chiefs do not want to expose their departments and officers to the UCLA campus’s disarray and lack of administrative leadership.”

UCLA did not respond to a request for comment (if the school eventually does – doubtful – this story will be updated.)

Stern said the chaotic response by UCLA during the past few weeks has eroded the trust in the administration not just amongst parents, students, and alumni but other law enforcement agencies as well.

The other agencies were worried that, without a viable plan that would actually be followed in place, their officers could become “scapegoats” if anything went badly.

Stern notes that the UCLA police twice called on other UC campus officers – memners of the system’s “Systemwide Response Team” – for help but that both times the requests were rescinded by UCLA administrators.

Beyond UCLA, Stern said campuses police department have on their own called local law enforcement agencies, like the county sheriff, and have availed themselves of the use of California Highway Patrol officers to help contain their own protests issues.

As for going forward, Stern said he believes that – at least in UCLA’s case – the school is just “trying to get through graduation” however it can at this point.

As to the rest of the month, looking at the entire UC system?

“I’m cautiously optimistic,” said Stern.  “But I don’t think it’s over.”