UCLA reassigns police chief amid criticism of response to violence at pro-Palestinian protests
WESTWOOD, LOS ANGELES -- The police chief at UCLA has been reassigned following criticism over his handling of recent campus demonstrations that included a mob attacking a pro-Palestinian encampment.
Chief John Thomas was temporarily reassigned Tuesday "pending an examination of our security processes," said Mary Osako, UCLA vice chancellor for strategic communications, in a statement released Wednesday.
The Daily Bruin reported late Tuesday that Thomas said in a text to the campus newspaper, "There's been a lot going on and, I learned late yesterday that I'm temporarily reassigned from my duties as chief."
Neither Osako nor Thomas identified his reassigned role.
The reassignment of Thomas follows UCLA's May 5 announcement of the creation of a new chief safety officer position to oversee campus security operations.
Thomas told the Los Angeles Times in early May that he did "everything I could" to provide security and keep students safe during days of strife that left UCLA shaken.
But his response was roundly criticized and prompted Chancellor Gene Block to order a review of campus security procedures. Block then announced that Rick Braziel, a former Sacramento police chief, would lead a new Office of Campus Safety that will oversee the UCLA Police Department.
"To best protect our community moving forward, urgent changes are needed in how we administer safety operations," Block said in the May 5 statement.
Sporadic disruptions continued following the dismantling of a pro-Palestinian encampment and some 200 arrests on April 30.
Block has been summoned to Washington by a Republican-led House committee to testify Thursday about the protests on the Westwood campus.
Later Wednesday the union representing University of California police officers issued a statement saying the blame for the protest response should be placed on school administration, not the police department, because of campus policy.
"The UCLA administration owns the failure of any protest response, and the public should reject their attempts to shift blame to law enforcement," said Wade Stern, president of the Federated University Peace Officers Association. "UC guidelines detailed in the Robinson/Edley Report require a trained senior administrator at UCLA to decide how to respond to protests, guided by an existing plan that had been rehearsed and scenario planned with both UCLA PD and outside law enforcement agencies.
"What unfolded at UCLA calls into question whether UCLA complied with the guidelines to have in place senior administrators trained in crowd control response, with written plans for response that were the product of scenario training and consultation with its police department and outside law enforcement agencies. The response to protests appears ad hoc and devoid of the structured planning mandated by the UC system."
