嘿嘿视频

Campus Safety Task Force Suggests Outreach, Outlines Next Steps

Any discussion of safety at 嘿嘿视频 and 嘿嘿视频 Health should include increased outreach, transparency and more, a 32-person task force said in its preliminary report.

Chancellor Gary S. May convened the group, the Task Force on Next Generation Reforms to Advance Campus Safety, last June as discussions of police reform swept the nation in the wake of the police killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and others. It was tasked with examining the form public safety should take at 嘿嘿视频 and 嘿嘿视频 Health, and delivered its preliminary report to the chancellor in December. That report was published online Friday (Jan. 29).

TOWN HALLS

The task force has scheduled 11 town hall meetings to gather input from various audiences:

 

by Kevin Johnson, dean of the School of Law, and Renetta Garrison Tull, vice chancellor of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, made eight initial recommendations, and will continue to work until delivering its final report this June. It suggested:

  • Improved communication: Noting that 鈥渕any campus observers [are] unaware of [the] work鈥 嘿嘿视频 Police officers do each day, the task force recommended telling students, faculty, staff and other community members more about the university鈥檚 public safety goals and safeguards, and how police fit into that.
  • Greater transparency 鈥 嘿嘿视频鈥 police policies and procedures aren鈥檛 kept secret, but the task force recommended wider and more effective distribution of all available information about the department. The police department鈥檚 new website, launched in July, is a step in the right direction, the task force said.
  • A robust information campaign 鈥 嘿嘿视频 should spend time telling people about the basic functions of the police department, campus safety issues and concerns, as well as recent changes being made to the department, the task force said. This campaign should also include a call for suggestions and comments from the public (the task force plans to solicit comments and hold discussions on its own 鈥 see 鈥淭ask force to seek input鈥 below).
  • Increased trainings 鈥 The task force suggested that 嘿嘿视频 should hold trainings to educate members of the public on the basics about the campus police department. 鈥淭here is some basic information that is not widely known about campus policing, such as, for example, the distinction between the 嘿嘿视频 police and city and county law enforcement agencies,鈥 the group said in its report.
  • Expanded outreach 鈥 Regular information sessions, public discussions and other forms of outreach would not only improve lines of communication between the police department and the campus community, according to the task force, but it would also make it easier to build trust in the future by making the police better known in the community. The police department already has an outreach unit, led by Officer Mikio McCulloch, and the task force suggested creating an expanded outreach plan approved by Chief Joe Farrow and Chancellor May.
  • Evaluation of uniforms 鈥 Police uniforms can be intimidating and aren鈥檛 strictly needed, the task force said. 鈥淧olice should wear attire that identifies them as police, [but] a police uniform is not necessarily required,鈥 it said in its report. 鈥淭he police chief should evaluate the use of uniforms by public safety personnel.鈥 This could take the form of expanding the duties for unarmed protective service officers or student Aggie Hosts to things like taking reports. On a related note, the task force said it would examine the issue of whether police should be armed before issuing its final report. 鈥淪imilarly, the fact that the police force is armed alone creates a significant divide between police officers and community members,鈥 it wrote.
  • Responses to mental health calls 鈥 Chief Farrow should continue to explore the increased use of mental health and social workers in mental health emergencies 鈥 something that is already underway 鈥 the task force said, while noting the costs to staff these personnel 鈥24/7 with relatively few calls may be substantial,鈥 but potentially worthwhile.
  • Continuing reforms 鈥 The task force鈥檚 final recommendation in its preliminary report was to encourage Chief Farrow and others in the department to continue with reform efforts to change the culture and institutional nature of the department. These could take the form of abandoning uniforms or other changes, the group said.

Task force to seek input

The task force鈥檚 next steps include a survey, campus town halls, focus groups and more, noting that 鈥渆xtensive and meaningful community input is essential鈥 to its work.

, with the first 鈥 meant specifically for undergraduate students 鈥 scheduled for Feb. 9. They continue through March 23.

鈥淎 consensus on the task force emerged that community input was necessary before it would be in a position to issue its final recommendations,鈥 the group said.

Discussion topics for forums and other types of input would include the best ways to keep the public safe at 嘿嘿视频, whether officers should be armed, if the Police Accountability Board () is an effective system, whether some responsibilities could be shifted to mental health professionals, what kind of additional training police officers might need, and whether the entire department should be abolished.

鈥淢any task force members expressed deep reservations about the viability of abolition upon learning that eliminating the 嘿嘿视频 Police Department would cede the policing function to the Yolo County Sheriff鈥檚 Office,鈥 the task force said.

嘿嘿视频 isn鈥檛 the only University of California campus having difficult discussions about public safety 鈥 the first half of the was scheduled for today, and the second half is scheduled for March 24.

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