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UCLA Urged to Revise Protest Response Strategies Following Chaotic Events
LOS ANGELES — The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is advised to establish comprehensive strategies, effective communication channels, and clear protocols for decision-making ahead of significant protests, particularly in light of the unrest stemming from the Israel-Hamas conflict earlier this year. This recommendation comes from an external review conducted by 21st Century Policing Solutions, a respected national law enforcement consulting organization.
The report, made public on Thursday, details the tumultuous response during late April and early May, highlighting the university’s unpreparedness and crucial communication failures that led to disorder during the protests.
Commissioned by the University of California in response to UCLA’s controversial handling of the protests, the review involved an extensive investigation, including a thorough examination of thousands of documents and interviews with a wide range of stakeholders, including current and former UCLA officials, faculty, staff, students, and law enforcement representatives.
According to the university system, “The purpose of the investigation was to develop a detailed set of recommended reforms designed to prevent recurrence of the shortcomings that occurred last spring.”
Protests on campus escalated into serious confrontations, resulting in numerous injuries. On one occasion, over 200 individuals were arrested during a demonstration after demonstrators disregarded dispersal orders. Tensions were palpable as clashes erupted between opposing groups. Reports indicated that police utilized flash-bang devices to disperse crowds and dismantled barricades that had been erected, which included timber, metal barriers, and dumpsters.
The investigation found that during these critical moments, UCLA administrators occasionally excluded campus police from essential discussions and decision-making processes. This confusion was exacerbated by the absence of a coordinated approach for campus safety between UCLA police and external law enforcement agencies, such as the Los Angeles Police Department and California Highway Patrol, which ended up creating an impromptu response without adequate knowledge of the campus environment.
Centrally, the report identifies a significant theme regarding the role of law enforcement in maintaining public safety—a conversation that’s part of a broader national discourse. It draws attention to UCLA’s ineffective handling of this issue, pointing out that the university has, until now, not successfully integrated police in planning efforts, only to call on them for intervention when situations become violent.
The university has publicly committed to prioritizing campus safety and indicated plans to implement the report’s recommendations, several of which are already in progress, as stated in their recent communication.
Source
abcnews.go.com