Guideline 2.3 of the UC Community Safety Plan states:
- Campuses will follow established University and campus guidance on protest response, role of police, observers or monitors, and use of mutual aid and communicate those standards to the community so that they have shared expectations.
UCLA Police Department utilizes a tiered response based on the type of event and any potential threat to the community. Each situation is evaluated to determine the need for unarmed security or police, and the UCLA Police Department’s response can adapt based on changing circumstances throughout the event. This adaptation can include the use of riot gear when necessary. For example, during peaceful protests, the UCLA Police Department does not deploy squads of police officers to the crowd. Instead, the first line of engagement would be University Officials and/or unarmed private security. During events such as “Undie Run”, the UCLA Police Department utilizes unarmed private security and parking enforcement officers to minimize police officer participation. When police officers are needed for a large protest, such as when there may be a potential for violence, the UCLA Police Department follows the guidelines set forth in the Robinson-Edley Report.
The considerations for each event are listed and categorized via a risk assessment. Based on this categorization, the need to have more or less officers is factored. Some events present more of a threat than others, thereby increasing the risk associated with the production of those events. The risks are then categorized as either Low Risk, Medium Risk or High Risk.
Based on the risk assessment, a decision matrix is generated. Depending upon the amount of risk calculated during the risk assessment, couple with other factors that could affect the event, a staffing plan is generated. A low risk, low frequency event requires fewer police officers (if any) than a high risk, high frequency event.
UCLA Police Department is committed to conducting risk assessments for each event, as per the Robinson-Edley Report guidelines.